Imperio
by Sara Holmes
Summary: HP/DM. Draco would have been proud of just how fast he could curse, if it wasn't Harry Potter he'd just accidentally hit with an Unforgivable... WARNINGS: mature sexual content and bad language.
1. Curse words

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and company belong to JK Rowling and THE PUBLISHERS even though they still think he's straight. I'm not making any money, I'm merely borrowing them for a while.

Warnings: Slash, mature sexual content, bad language, and severe mindfuck.

* * *

Imperio

_Well, I encourage your complete co-operation…_

* * *

Draco Malfoy knew the corridors of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry as well as he did the corridors of Malfoy Manor, and that was saying something given the size of both places. He had the liberty of being able to wander around in both his homes without being caught or found, something not many people could claim. He had been able to confidently sneak around the manor since he was six years old, but the talent of running the maze that was Hogwarts was a newly acquired one. And it had almost definitely been at the expense of his health and most likely his sanity, as all his wanderings now took place when he was supposed to be sleeping.

On this particular night, an uncharacteristically warm, restless evening towards the end of September where the air was heavy and oppressive, he had fallen asleep at midnight, woken up around two and promptly dressed and left his dorm to meander aimlessly around the eerily empty halls of the castle.

He had flirted with insomnia for years, as long as he could properly remember. To start with, his Mother blamed an over-active imagination and too much energy. As he grew older, fear had taken precedence but now frustration was the force that drove him from his bed every night, made him shun the peace that slumber would provide. After the war…everything was different, but somehow it some ways it was exactly the same as before.

To Draco, the most important change wasn't how people viewed him with a new combination of pity and grudging respect for the role he and his wand had played in the war. It wasn't how his entire view on the political landscape had been turned upside-down. It wasn't how his monetary status had rapidly and significantly changed, or even how his family name meant fuck all to him these days. The only thought that Draco had time for was that life was different in the fact that Harry Potter didn't hate him anymore. But what was the same, and what was slowly driving Draco insane was that despite the lack of hate, the boy still didn't _like_ him. Still didn't glance his way. Still never contemplated what it would be like to hold out that hand to Draco and just… oh he didn't know what he wanted. Some days he would be perfectly happy with a friendly truce with Potter, and then twenty minutes later he would hate the idea and knew he would only be satisfied when he had Potter beneath him and he was fucking him to within an inch of his life.

Potter. Still the bane of Draco's fucking existence because ever since Harry had saved his life and then returned his wand with a quiet but sincere thank you a few weeks later, Draco could not get the boy out of his head. Not that he'd managed that much in eight years anyway, but now it was just getting ridiculous.

His feet had led him to a bathroom on the sixth floor and he wandered in, remembering the time he spent here as sixth year; panicked, crying, worrying about his life. Now as an 'extended tuition student' as the rest of the eighth years were officially called, he couldn't help but see the sad irony in him being back here two years later, still worrying and panicking about his life. At least he'd grown out of the crying thing.

Wandering over to the window, he saw a large spider dutifully spinning a web between two stone casings of the window. He watched it idly for a while, and then (as he always seemed to do with everything in his life at the moment) got bored.

"Impedimenta," he whispered, pointing his wand at the spider which froze on its web.

Amused, Draco decided he could play this game for quite a bit longer. He unfroze the spider, turned it yellow, then green, and then made it as large as his hand, before shrinking it back to normal size and turning it jet black.

As the spider tried to ignore Draco and carry on with its web building, Draco paused, seized with a sudden impulse. Could he possibly…? He hadn't done it in so long…and he had only managed to do this properly on one occasion…

He pointed his wand at the spider and muttered "Imperio."

A wonderful tingly feeling ran down his arm and from experience he knew it was connected to the spider which was now sat placidly in the centre of its half made web.

_Build your web… _Draco thought. The spider didn't move.

Draco frowned. "Build the web," he said, and the moment the words left his mouth the spider started into action, hastening to finish the web.

"Stop," Draco said, and the spider did as such.

"Carry on," he said and he laughed as the spider obeyed. It appeared he needed the verbal commands to make the spider obey his will, rather than just the mental ones as was supposed to happen, but that didn't surprise him. He'd never been one for the Unforgivables and had only ever really gotten used to using one out of the three. Which wasn't bad, considering the Dark Lord used to live in his house and all.

"Malfoy?"

He whipped around, wand raised as he heard a voice and shock hit him as he saw Harry Potter stood uncertainly by the door of the bathroom, looking right at him. He quickly masked his surprise at seeing anyone else up at this hour of the night, let alone the Chosen One himself.

"What are you doing?" Potter finally asked, somewhat curiously.

It was like some sort of twisted parody of the time they had been in this bathroom and Potter had hit Draco with the Sectumsempra curse; at least this time neither was firing curses at the other but the situation was strange neverftheless.

"Playing with my new pet," Draco replied idly, making the spider swing back and forth on a strand of silk with a whispered command.

He heard footsteps and to his astonishment Potter walked over, standing by his side, his eyes following the progress of the newly acrobatic and rather talented spider.

"Have you Imperiused that spider?" Potter asked after a moment, with a frown on his face.

"So what if I have?" Draco replied in as offhand a voice as he could manage; not giving away how his heart was hammering at the fact Potter was not only stood so close to him, but talking to him with no discernable hate or malice in his tone. He was actually acknowledging his existence, almost like he _wanted_ to talk to Draco.

"I Imperiused someone once. One of the stranger feelings I've come across in life." Harry said unexpectedly.

"And here was me thinking you'd berate me for cursing an arachnid," Draco said mildly. "Didn't know you had it in you, Potter."

"Neither did I."

"Stop," Draco said to the spider and it did so. "Write Potter in your web," he said and a small smile lifted the corner of Potter's mouth as the spider immediately set about constructing a 'P' out of silk.

"Do you have to speak out loud to get it to do stuff?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. Obviously I'm not as proficient with Imperiusing as you," Draco added somewhat slyly and Harry shot him a half hearted scowl.

"It was war," Harry said, refusing to look at Draco and instead watching the spider who was now onto it's first 't' and doing well. "_You_ of all people should know we all do bad things in circumstances like that."

Draco wished he could tell the spider to do things non-verbally, because he heartily wanted to tell it to add 'fuck off' right above where it was writing 'Potter'.

"Thanks for that," he said icily, glaring as the spider finished its task and sat at the end of the word like a fat black full stop, making the word 'Potter' seem suddenly much more assertive.

"Only saying…" Harry shrugged. "At least I never got anyone nearly killed fucking around with the Imperius curse. You _used_ to be pretty _proficient _with it if I remember rightly."

"I did it _once_- you know what Potter, fuck off," Draco said moodily.

"You started it," Harry retorted. "I'm just saying that I'm definitely not the only one to have done bad things-"

"Well, if we're speaking of bad things, you remember the last time we met here?" Draco asked him abruptly.

He felt Potter tense next to him. "Yes," he bit out finally.

"Well then," Draco said harshly, turning his back on Potter and walking over to the sinks, eyeing his reflection in the mirror above the sink. "Shut the fuck up about the bad stuff _I've_ done."

"Malfoy," Potter said, in a tone that left no illusion to the fact that it was meant as a warning. Draco looked up in the reflection to see Potter had followed him and was watching him and _had his wand out_.

Draco span around instinctively, pointing his own wand at Potter. His concentration was well and truly shot as Potter immediately raised his and pointed it back at Draco; he felt the connection he had imprinted upon the spider leave him, ending the curse and leaving his arm feeling entirely normal once again.

"Why are you even here?" Draco demanded, his voice trembling but his hand steady.

"Put your wand down," Potter said quietly. "I don't want to curse you."

Draco laughed bitterly. "Like I'd ever believe that-"

"I don't!" Harry said forcefully, and without thinking he had stepped closer, and as he stepped Draco jerked his wand up to point between his eyes and Potter reacted instantly, probably instinctively, his wand snapped up to and words were on his lips-

"Stu-"

"_Imperio!_"

Potter may have been quick, but _fuck_ being stunned because Draco was quicker. The curse was out of his lips and Potter had frozen in place before Draco realised what he'd done.

He stared at Potter who was now stood placidly watching him, his face expressionless. His gaze travelled to his own hand where his wand was still pointing at Potter, and then up his arm where the delicious tingling sensation had returned, slightly stronger than when he had been connected to the spider.

Oh fuck.

He'd just Imperiused Harry Potter. The Chosen One, the fucking Saviour of the Wizarding World, and Draco had used an Unforgivable curse on him. Draco. The Ex-Death Eater who had only escaped Azkaban by the skin of his teeth and was supposed to be on best behaviour for the next _forever_.

"Potter?" he said hesitantly, although didn't lower his wand, feeling decidedly nervous about what Potter would do if he gave him back his free will with Draco still in cursing distance.

Potter blinked once, and then again, and his eyes seemed to focus on Draco for a second but he didn't move or say anything and the sensation still remained in Draco's arm, connecting Potter to him through invisible strands of magic.

_Tell me your name,_ Draco thought as a test but Potter didn't move. Obviously Draco was still shite at cursing things properly.

"Tell me your name," Draco said quietly, though Potter should be able to hear him in the silence of the bathroom.

"Harry," Potter said suddenly and Draco sagged in relief. At least he actually had Potter Imperiused and hadn't accidentally turned his brain to mush, which could happen if you really fucked things up with this curse.

"Come over here," Draco said and Potter obediently stepped closer to him, stopping just in front of him.

Draco hesitated. His rational brain was screaming at him to scarper and lift the curse and hide in his dorm for the next week, but his irrational brain- the part which had been obsessed with Potter since he was eleven- was slyly reminding him he would never again get a chance to be this close to Potter without being punched.

He was torn. Well and truly- he _knew _what he should do but here in front of him stood the cause and answer of all Draco's problems, and he couldn't just let this opportunity slip away-

"One step closer," he whispered and Potter obeyed. Of course he did. He was now so close to Draco they were nearly touching.

Draco reached out and he slowly and gently took Potter's glasses off of his face, dropping them to the floor and giving him an unobstructed view of those green eyes which were silently watching him, waiting for his next command. _It's OK…_ Draco told himself. _I just want to look at him properly…_He tore his eyes away from Potter's green ones and moved them upwards; he brushed Potter's fringe to the side to glimpse the famous scar. He traced it with his finger, gently running his fingertip down across Potter's temple and across his cheekbone and then across his lips.

Staring at Potter's face, he couldn't really work out _why _Potter affected him as much as he did. It wasn't as if he were typically handsome, or good looking…but there was something there, the something that plagued Draco whenever he tried to sleep and made him want to do obscene things to Potter all night long. Draco mentally shrugged as he gently ran his finger back across Potters lower lip, feeling his soft breath on his finger. No point trying to analyse it. He _did_ want Potter and that wouldn't change even if he did manage to work out why. Draco's eyes finished following the path of his finger; his eyes returned to Potter's and Draco suddenly knew he wouldn't be stopping there.

He was fucked up. This was fucked up and he knew it, and it was all wrong but he couldn't help himself- Potter was here and he could finally taste what he had yearned after for years, just the once couldn't hurt, he was already in trouble for it so he might as well go for broke-

"Kiss me," he whispered and his legs nearly gave out as Potter shut his eyes and leant forwards, gently pressing his lips against Draco's.

_Oh God…_Harry Potter was kissing him. Albeit under the influence of one of the most dangerous curses known to wizard-kind but Draco forgot to give a fuck because Potters lips were gentle and warm and he could taste him on his lips-

Draco's chest was heaving as Potter pulled back and continued to look at him with a calm expression on his face. The lack of response stung a little, but any sadness was quickly superseded by overwhelming, burning desire and need.

"Again," Draco managed to say, his voice cracking. "More."

There_ must_ have been some element of mental connection involved because Potter seemed to understand the command 'more' perfectly. He leant back in, his eyes fluttering shut and this time when his lips touched Draco's they parted slightly and his tongue came out to trace Draco's lower lip.

"Hold on to me," Draco breathed against his lips and Harry's hands obediently slid onto his hips, his fingers curling around the bony ridges just as they kissed him once more, Draco gently slipping his tongue into Harry's mouth.

Thrills ran through Draco, right from his toes up to his scalp because _nothing _could compare to the way Potter gently sucked on his tongue before releasing it and stroking it leisurely with his own. The way Potter bit on his lip and returned Draco's open mouthed kisses with so much heat and passion that it made Draco's legs weak.

Oh fuck this was wrong. It was so wrong on so many levels but it was amazing. He was stood in the middle of a bathroom at three in the morning, snogging the daylights out of Harry Potter, and nothing had ever felt this good-

He didn't know how long they were stood kissing for before his rational brain decided to turn itself back on. With a _clunk _in his mind that he suspected was probably audible, he realised just exactly what the hell he was doing and dropped Potter like he was hot, stepping back, panting and covering his mouth with his hand.

"Fuck," he said, muffled against his hand which he moved away. "_Fuck!_"

Potter just stood there and watched him.

"Shit," Draco breathed, taking a step back, horrified with himself and starting to panic. He was going to Azkaban for this one, there was no doubt about it. "Potter, I'm sorry-"

Draco fled, pushing through the door and not looking back, sprinting along the corridor, through a tapestry and down a staircase before holding his wand up and muttering _finite. _The tingly sensation in his arm disappeared at once and he carried on walking as fast as he could back to the safety of the Slytherin common. Well, safety seemed relative now; he fully expected Potter to tear apart the castle to find him and kill him when he realised what had happened.

_I should have Obliviated the fucker…_ Draco thought desperately, diving across the entrance hall without bothering to check if the coast was clear. Actually, that would have been even worse- even though Draco knew he could cast a mean Memory charm if the occasion called for it- if Potter realised he'd been Obliviated that would undoubtedly rouse suspicion and they would think Draco had done far worse than steal a few kisses.

A few stolen kisses, which had been the best of Draco's life. Draco knew it now- the Universe hated him. And after tonight, once again so would Potter.


	2. Questions

AN: Plot hole? *cough* What plot hole? You really think I'd leave this piece of fun at one chapter where there is more Harry and Draco tormenting to be had?

* * *

Draco didn't sleep at all that night, he didn't even try to. He tossed and turned in his bed with his mind racing, alternately with thoughts of kissing Potter and then of how much trouble he was going to be in when everyone found out. In his worry he had contemplated everything from running away to going to find Potter to explain and by the time dawn broke he had come up with nothing of substance or sanity that would get him out of this mess.

"Draco, get up. We're going for breakfast in ten."

An impatient voice calling through his curtains made him jump; being awake all night had disoriented him and he hadn't realised what time it actually was.

"Draco." Blaise's voice spoke again and Draco unwillingly pulled the curtains that surrounded his bed open and climbed unsteadily out, shivering slightly.

"Fuck, Draco, did you even go to sleep last night?" Blaise exclaimed the moment he clapped eyes on him. "You look awful."

Draco shook his head dumbly and the amused derision slid from Blaise's face as Draco failed to come out with a witty retort and instead just stood there, looking haggard and lost.

"We'll meet you two down there," Blaise said tersely over his shoulder to Goyle and Nott, the latter of whom was watching Draco with an intrigued look on his face, a small frown causing a cleft to form between his eyebrows. Blaise didn't wait for a response; he instead grabbed Draco by the upper arm and marched him across the room, steering him into the bathroom away from the curious gazes.

Fuck. Draco leant on the sink and looked at himself in the mirror, unhappily conceding that Blaise was right; he looked awful. His skin was even paler than usual and his eyes looked dull, surrounded by black shadows. And his hair- god, he could almost rival Potter in the bad-hair stakes right now.

"What the hell is up with you?" Blaise asked, waving his wand at the door and muttering a silencing charm. Neither of them would put it past Nott not to eavesdrop on his own dorm-mates. Well, Merlin knows _they'd _do it if the tables were turned.

"I am in so much trouble," Draco said miserably and alarm flickered over Blaise's face. Draco knew it was an odd thing indeed for a Malfoy to be admitting they were in trouble, but here it was. This wasn't something that was in his control anymore- oh the irony. In using a curse on Potter to control him, Draco had lost all of his own control over the situation and in effect, his life.

"What have you done?" Blaise asked slowly, sitting down on the long bench at the back of the washroom as Draco turned the tap on and waited for it to run warm.

"I-" Draco began, but couldn't finish his sentence. He wanted desperately to tell Blaise everything; about his insomnia, the curse, the kissing, the insane desire for Potter, but he couldn't.

"Draco, what have you done?" Blaise repeated sternly as Draco splashed his face with water that was still cold but that didn't matter. He doubted he'd get anything but freezing cold water once he was in Azkaban.

"I Imperiused someone," Draco blurted out, grabbing a towel and wiping his face dry.

"_What?_" Blaise asked incredulously, sitting up and leaning towards Draco. "You did _what?_"

"Last night," Draco said miserably, leaning against the sinks and turning the tap off. "I was wandering round and I found a spider in the bathroom and I was just dicking about-"

"You Imperiused a spider?" Blaise asked flatly.

"Yes, but then someone turned up and I panicked and they tried to stun me and I cursed them too," Draco said desperately.

"Oh my- you idiot!" Blaise said, his eyes wide. "You know you're on thin ice as it is- an unforgivable! Draco, you _twat!_"

"I know-"

"Who was it?" Blaise asked after a moment.

Draco swallowed thickly and then decided to be honest, at least about this. "Potter."

Blaise opened his mouth abruptly and then shut it again, staring hard at Draco with his eyes narrowed. A moment passed and then to Draco's great surprise Blaise visibly relaxed, leaning back and breathing out heavily, before speaking somewhat dismissively. "No you didn't."

"I _did,_" Draco insisted and winced at how childish he sounded.

"No, you didn't," Blaise said tiredly, standing up. Draco was confused; he had half expected Blaise to kill him for cursing Potter but here he was acting disbelieving and unconcerned.

"I did! I was in the bathroom on the sixth floor and he came in and we started talking and then we started fighting and he went to stun me and I panicked and Imperiused him-"

"You didn't," Blaise repeated. "You cant Imperius Potter, it's not possible-"

"You're not listening, I- hang on, what?" Draco asked, distracted.

"Didn't you know? He can't be Imperiused. That class where they Imperiused everyone way back in fourth year, he could throw it off. Apparently it doesn't affect him at all…" Blaise trailed off, disconcerted by the stunned expression on Draco's face.

"Is that true?" Draco asked hoarsely. It couldn't be- he _had _cursed Potter and Potter had done everything that Draco had said; if that wasn't the Imperius curse then what the hell was it?

"I think so- I suppose it could be just a rumour-"

"Find out if that's true," Draco demanded and Blaise raised an eyebrow, holding up his hands defensively.

"Alright, alright! What the hell has gotten into you?"

"This is…so fucked up," Draco said wearily and left the bathroom, Blaise following just behind.

"Too right. Because if the rumour is true, I'm wondering what the hell you managed to do to him. You can mess with people's brains playing around with Unforgivables. And if you did actually manage to do it-"

"Well it didn't work completely right. I had to use voice commands-"

"That doesn't bode well. Either Potter _isn't_ immune and you're rubbish at cursing people properly or Potter _is_ meant to be immune and you've got worrying skill in casting the Imperius curse."

"Fuck," Draco nodded. "Merlin I hope he's alright…"

"_Hope he's alright._ Urgh. I'll never understand you and your Potter obsession," Blaise said good naturedly.

"That's because you're the most relentlessly heterosexual person I know," Draco said half heartedly.

"Indeed, unlike your darling self," Blaise said and then grinned. "Of all the people to come across you at three in the morning…it's like some huge joke on you isn't it?"

Draco sighed, rubbing his face. "Yes, thank you for reminding me."

* * *

"He's here."

Draco heard the muttered words and blanched, his coffee cup shaking in his hand but refusing to look up despite the desire to do so. He knew exactly who Blaise was referring to because he'd paid Blaise five Galleons to watch the door of the Great Hall all the way through breakfast to make sure Potter turned up in one piece.

"How does- is he-?"

"He looks fine," Blaise said. "Not dribbling or squawking or licking anyone-"

"_Blaise!_"

"Sorry, sorry," Blaise grinned as Draco shot him a glare. "No, he looks fine. He's sitting with Finnegan, getting a drink of juice, talking to Finnegan, looking towards the head table-"

"What?" Draco asked urgently, still looking down at his drink. "Why did you stop-"

"He glanced this way but that was it," Blaise said curiously. "He's gone back to his breakfast…So what the hell happened with that curse then?"

"I don't know-" Draco said slowly and risked a glance up at Potter who did indeed look perfectly fine and uncursed. Draco's sharp eyes could see that he looked tired, but that was all.

"Did it work properly when you cursed the spider?" Blaise asked and Draco shook his head.

"Well that's interesting," Blaise said thoughtfully. "You think he even remembers it? Surely you'd be in shit if he'd told anyone?"

"I don't know," Draco repeated. "Before we waste any more time theorizing about this we need to know if it's actually possible to curse him or not-"

"We? This is your mess!"

"Which you now know about so you're in it with me," Draco said promptly. "Guilty by association, Zabini."

Blaise groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "Why am I now the one always caught up in your escapades?"

"Who was the one who had to sort the you and disgusting Pansy episode out?" Draco asked hotly.

"Alright, shush!" Blaise said, throwing him a scowl. "You made your point, I'll help. You're going to owe me more than five Galleons for this one though."

"Whatever," Draco said flatly, and glanced up at Potter once more, his heart jumping when he saw Potter was already watching him, looking away quickly when Draco met his eyes.

That look reminded Draco forcibly of just what had transpired between them the previous night and he swallowed thickly, looking back down at the table and busying himself with pouring himself a drink. He remembered taking Potter's glasses off of his face and looking into those green eyes and feeling…

He didn't know how to feel. The desire for Potter was reaching torrid levels, made a million times worse by the fact he'd now tasted him and wanted more. The desire was eclipsed by fear and uncertainly though; wondering what the hell had happened with the curse and still whether he was going to get in trouble for it.

"Draco…" Blaise said carefully and Draco looked quickly around to see he was looking at Potter too, and probably had seen the glance Potter and Draco shared.

"Mmm?" Draco asked, looking back to Potter and raising his goblet of juice to his mouth.

"You still haven't told me what happened _after_ you cursed Potter. What did you make him do?"

Draco inhaled sharply and promptly choked on a mouthful of juice, spluttering and causing several startled glances to be thrown his way from further along the table.

"Christ," Blaise said, flicking his wand at Draco to ease his choking and looking alarmed. "Was it really that bad?"

"Not now, Blaise," Draco said hoarsely, well aware that people were watching him and that Blaise was now looking thoroughly intrigued.

"I won't help unless-"

"I will tell you _after_ you find out that thing for me, I promise," Draco said urgently and Blaise nodded, pointing a finger at him sternly.

"This better be a good one, or I'm going to be really disappointed."

* * *

They got to charms stupidly early, which meant they could get their favourite seats at the back of the room, but also meant Draco had to sit for twenty minutes with nothing but his thoughts for company as Blaise unpacked his stuff and started to read his textbook.

Draco was so, so tired. Normally being tired was a part of life that he took as a constant, regular background to his everyday routine but now…he just wanted to give up and sleep for ever. Well, at least until Potter forgot to be mad at him and this whole mess had blown over…

What was going on? He had been so certain that he had actually Imperiused Potter but after what Blaise had said he really couldn't be sure. He remembered the options Blaise has suggested…_ Either Potter isn't immune and you're rubbish at cursing people properly or Potter is meant to be immune and you've got worrying skill in casting the Imperius curse…_ He didn't think it was the latter; he couldn't even curse a spider properly for Merlins sake. The former option made more sense, but that theory went out the window if it turned out Potter _was_ Imperius proof. That would leave the third and as yet unspoken option that Potter was _pretending_. Draco frowned. Why the hell would be have pretended to be cursed and obeyed Draco's commands? Why the hell would he have kissed him?

Panic shot through Draco at the notion that Potter was faking it to get him into trouble- but it quickly died down. He somehow cautiously felt that Potter wouldn't do that to Draco, not now. Maybe a couple of years ago, but not after Potter saved his life and Draco's Mother saved Potters and Draco _kind of_ saved Potter in the whole capture at the Manor fiasco.

It was all so confusing. Draco would readily admit he would pretend to be under the Imperius curse to get a shot at kissing Potter, but he had been obsessed with Potter for years and was clearly fucked in the head so his opinion on the matter was biased anyway.

Draco tried to reorganise his thoughts through the fog of tiredness that was threatening to overwhelm him. He knew Potter didn't hate him anymore. He didn't think Potter would be trying to get Draco in trouble, especially when everyone knew that if Draco did put a toe out of line, he'd be straight off to Azkaban. Potter had said he didn't want to curse Draco. But all that just labelled Potter as neutral to Draco's existence…and he hadn't so much as glanced at Draco in a remotely interested manner since they'd called their truce…

"Granger! Hey, could I borrow you for a moment?"

Draco looked up in horror as he heard Blaise's voice and his heart almost stopped as he saw that the Golden Trio had just entered the charms room, going to their usual seats right at the front of the room. Potter and Weasley carried on walking without a backwards glance but Granger turned and walked back towards them, looking expectant.

"Wondering if I could pick your brains for a moment," Blaise said casually and Granger nodded, stepping up close to their table.

"Yeah, what's it about?" she asked.

"Well you know that extended research project some of us are doing for Defence?" Blaise asked and Hermione nodded, looking interested.

Draco looked back down at the table. Inwardly cursing Blaise, he picked up Blaise's quill and started doodling on his parchment. Why the hell would Blaise be bringing Granger over here? How fucking suspicious would Potter be? Draco honestly _did_ like how they all got on these days and he'd even had a few cordial and almost pleasant conversations with Granger himself, but to bring her into this mess? Blaise was an _idiot-_

"-well I'm doing mine on the Imperius curse," Blaise said and Draco's eyes widened, the quill faltering in his hand. "And I heard that Potter can throw it off, is that true?"

"Yes, he learnt in fourth year," Hermione said and Draco kicked Blaise under the table, desperately trying to get him to shut up and stop asking questions.

Blaise didn't even flinch and continued to focus on Granger. "Seriously? How does that work? Does the curse just not connect to his subconscious?"

Hermione shot Potter a thoughtful glance over her shoulder and turned back to Blaise. "Well, you _can _technically curse him, like the caster will feel connected to him but the commands won't do anything," she explained. "It does connect to his subconscious but he can override it with his own thoughts, if that makes sense."

Blaise nodded, looking interested as Granger spoke again. "You know you can talk to him if you want, he really won't mind-

Draco's nearly fell off his chair at her words, shifting on his seat and trying to aim another kick at Blaise, and his heart was pounding-

"No, I'd rather not let him know people are gossiping about him still." Blaise said good naturedly. "I was just curious."

Hermione gave him a smile. "You sure? Don't think you can't because of the house thing, you know that doesn't matter anymore-"

"I know," Blaise assured her. "I might ask him at a later date. I think I've got enough to try and fit in already, and I don't want him thinking I'm nosing. I mean, remember how mad he got when that Ravenclaw asked him something about Diggory?"

"Yeah, you've got a point," Hermione nodded and then looked up as Professor Flitwick shuffled in, adding "I won't tell him you said anything."

"Thanks," Blaise said and gave her a winning smile. She smiled back and then quickly moved off to sit with Potter and Weasley.

Draco could barely think to give Blaise credit for finding out in such an outright yet still discreet a manner- he was currently having his second heart attack since he'd got into the charms room because Granger had unwittingly just delivered the answer to Draco: Potter had been pretending. He had made out with Draco whilst letting Draco believe he was under the fucking Imperius curse.

Draco looked weakly up at Blaise and Blaise stared back.

"I'm guessing by the look on your face that that was either really good or really bad news," Blaise whispered, and Draco nodded, unable to form words.

"What happened? When you cursed him?" Blaise hissed but Draco shook his head, nervously glancing to the front of the room where Flitwick was climbing onto his chair. Instead, he picked up Blaise's quill and slowly wrote on the edge of his parchment.

_I told him to kiss me._

"What?" Blaise yelped and Draco kicked him under the desk, a lot harder than last time. Blaise glanced around impatiently and then, satisfied that no-one had heard, snatched the quill from Draco.

_And?_

He thrust the quill back at Draco, who took it, swallowing thickly.

_He did._

"Holy fuck," Blaise breathed, staring at Draco in disbelief. "But, that means…"

Draco breathed out heavily, trying to keep calm, nodding shakily at Blaise. "I know."


	3. Restraint

AN: Thank you (not) to Jen- there was no damn plot hole! There may well be one by the time I'm finished, but seeing as I'm not- you can't have a hole in an unfinished plot! Anyway, thank you to AlineDaryen for pointing out my spectacular FAIL in being DH compliant, and as always, thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review. High fives all round.

* * *

Draco and Blaise burst into the Slytherin boys dorm, both stumbling in the doorway and simultaneously turning around to point their wands at the door, one of them casting a locking charm and the other a silencing charm before breaking into a tirade of frantic words.

"You kissed Potter!"

"I know!"

"He thinks you don't know-"

"He must have been pretending-"

"Why would Potter kiss you?"

"I told him to!"

"I thought you were just crap at cursing!"

"I'm not crap at-!"

"But he can't have been pretending-"

"Why the hell would be pretend to be Imperiused? Hang on, I'm getting confused," Draco panted, holding up a hand to stop the talking. "You go first."

"Sit down before you fall down," Blaise said to him and Draco sank gratefully onto his bed, rubbing his chest. He didn't think he could take much more of this before he went into shock.

"Tell me what happened when you cursed Potter. Everything." Blaise said, pacing back and forth with a worried expression on his face.

"He was about to stun me but I was quicker," Draco told him, still oddly proud of himself for that fact. "He just froze and stood there, until I said his name, then he seemed to look at me properly but he still didn't move and I just figured it was because I couldn't curse things properly, and then I told him to come over and then…"

"You told him to kiss you."

"Well…yeah," Draco said lamely.

"You're a complete pervert, Draco."

"Me?" Draco replied indignantly. "I'm not the one pretending to be under the Imperius curse to get some action!"

"OK, point conceded," Blaise said, sitting heavily down on the bed next to Draco. "When you said his name, that must have been him breaking past the curse, Granger said it would connect but he'd get past it-"

"But then why not stun me? Or kill me?" Draco asked, frustrated.

"I don't know!" Blaise said. "Last I checked Potter was as straight as I am. Are you sure you didn't curse him with anything else?" he added a little suspiciously.

Draco's mouth fell open indignantly. "What? _No!_ I'm not that desperate!"

"Concerning Potter you are-" Blaise muttered but stopped as Draco threw him a mutinous look, the kind Draco normally employed before he hexed people.

"We need a plan," Blaise said firmly and Draco fell backwards, pressing his palms against his eyes.

"I can barely _think _let alone formulate a plan."

Blaise spared him a sympathetic look before looking thoughtful again. "Maybe you should…curse him again."

"I _can't_ curse him; I thought we'd established- ohh…" Draco trailed off, taking his hands away from his eyes as comprehension dawned.

"See if he's willing to play again and then finite it half way through," Blaise said, nodding in affirmation. "See what he does."

Draco sat up slightly, propping himself up on his elbows and looking incredulous. "He'd kill me," he said flatly.

"Depends if you can talk faster than he can grab his wand," Blaise said with an eyebrow raised. "Look, if he's in this crazy game because he likes you surely he's not going to hex you?"

Rubbing his tired eyes, Draco sighed again. "I don't know what's going on," he admitted. "But I wouldn't put it past him to punch me."

"He's obviously got something going for you, or he'd have done it already. And you know Potter; he's a Gryffindor, it's not like he's going to have some master plan. He'll be making it up as he goes along," Blaise prompted. "And if you really like him- oh shut it, I know you do so don't look at me like that- you've got to cut this short before it gets out of hand."

"It's already out of hand!" Draco said desperately. "I just don't get it- he doesn't even look my way and then suddenly he's pretending to be cursed to get with me? He doesn't even like me, let alone like that!"

"Well, the shit would hit the fan if people found out he liked you," Blaise said carefully. "He can't just drop that on people. You know he's expected to marry the Weasley girl, he's meant to be straight and all perfect…and you-"

"I'm a dick, I know," Draco finished distractedly. "And I'm a boy and I'm marked and my Father tried to kill him and I'm the last person that he should be with."

Blaise snorted. "I think you are the best person for him to be with. You're both clearly insane."

"Shut up," Draco said moodily, lying back down and pulling his pillow to him.

"Just do me a favour," Blaise said, prodding Draco and making him look up inquisitively. "Next time you get the hots for someone, don't curse them, just do the _normal_ thing and ask them on a fucking date."

* * *

Draco managed to steal three hours sleep before he was up again, ready to go wandering. He had agreed with Blaise to go back to the same bathroom that had played host to the previous nights shenanigans, as it was most likely that if Potter were about, he would return there in search of Draco.

He was nervous. There was still the option that Potter would get angry about all this, and unlikely as it was, could be still trying to get Draco into trouble. Draco paced around the dorm for a while, dwelling on these thoughts until Theo Nott asked him in a sleepy voice if he would kindly pack it the fuck in, so he cautiously slipped out and into the slumbering castle. To calm himself down a little he decided to go for an explore before heading up to the bathroom. There was surely no way Potter would randomly find him again if he was also up and roaming the corridors. And anyway, wandering around at gone midnight was Draco's thing so Potter could fuck off and find another unhealthy habit.

Draco ended up in the trophy room, silently looking at the plaques that adorned the walls and sat in cabinets. He didn't get why this room was even here; no-one cared about all the minor achievements of these people, most of whom had left Hogwarts millions of years ago. He wandered to the corner where the most recent trophies were held and his heart did that stupid annoying back-flip thing that it always did as he caught sight of Potter's name.

He was about to step forwards to look more closely at the plaque when he heard a noise behind him. He whipped around and backed into the shadows next to the a large cabinet, holding his breath and gripping his wand tightly-

"Malfoy, I know you're in here."

Draco's jaw dropped at the sound of Potter's voice. How the _hell_ had he found him again? He was nowhere near that damn bathroom!

He stepped out of the shadows fractionally to see Potter at the end of the aisle, his silhouette looking menacing in the moonlight.

"What do you want?" Draco asked levelly, his voice steady even though he were shaking like a leaf. God, Potter was pissed. He just knew it, he was going to curse him and leave him to die in the trophy room and he wouldn't even get a plaque after _that_.

"I wanted…" Potter didn't finish his sentence before walking closer, causing Draco to raise his wand in alarm.

"Get out of here," Draco said tersely.

"Why? What will you do?" Potter asked. "Curse me again?"

Fuck. So he knew Draco had cursed him. And Draco suddenly realised that even if he knew he had apparently not told anyone, which in turn prompted Draco to throw caution to the wind and go along with Blaise's stupid plan. "Yes. If you don't go, I will." Draco said, pleased to hear his voice sounded calm and determined, even though some part of his brain was calling him a whole range of hysterical four letter words because he'd just stood there and _threatened_ the Saviour of the Wizarding World.

"Go on then," Potter said, clear challenge in his voice.

Draco had to fight to keep his face expressionless as Potter came closer. Surely Potter didn't know that Draco knew about him being resistant to the Imperius curse, or maybe he did? Draco was trying to keep up, his brain ticking over madly. Potter obviously knew he couldn't be cursed, but he was egging Draco on. Draco's knees nearly gave out as Potter reached him, close enough so Draco could press the tip of his wand against his temple. He looked into his eyes and caught a glimmer of something in those green depths and with a jolt, he realised that Potter _wanted_ him to do it.

"I will," Draco said quietly, his heart hammering. "You've got until three or I will."

Potter didn't move. He just stood, looking back at Draco with his expression calm but something almost akin to desperation in his eyes.

Draco swallowed, trying to summon some more courage. Potter probably had some spare reserves he could mentally tap into. Although it was questionable whether it was bravery or sheer stupidity that was allowing Potter to stand perfectly still as Draco pressed his wand to his temple.

"Three," Draco whispered. "Two. One. _Imperio_."

Potter's eyes had shut at the same time the tingling sensation spread up Draco's arm and Draco stood perfectly still, waiting for them to reopen. When they did, they were slightly unfocused and Potter's features seemed slack. That couldn't be faked- surely.

"Harry," Draco whispered gently.

Potter blinked a couple of times, the jaw clenched almost imperceptibly, the eyes sharpened and Draco felt something that was a mixture of pure shock and triumph roar through him. That was it, just the same as last time!

He didn't hesitate this time. "Kiss me."

Potter obeyed immediately, his hands coming up to hold Draco's head in place as he pressed their mouths together. Draco grabbed Potter's waist and kissed him back eagerly, the only thought in his mind was that even if this was still fucked up, it was so much better than the previous encounter because he knew that for whatever reason, Potter was doing this willingly.

Draco slowed their kisses down, raising a hand to slip his fingers into Potter's hair, pressing his body firmly against Potter's. This was glorious; the way Potter responded perfectly, slowing his pace to match Draco's, gently taking his lower lip between his teeth and making Draco gasp.

"Take your shirt off," Draco whispered, before he was even aware that he'd contemplated undressing either of them. But it was too late for second thoughts; Potter was leaning back and peeling his T-shirt off, knocking his glasses off in the process.

"Wow," Draco mouthed silently as his eyes roved hungrily up and down Potter's moonlight bathed torso. "And mine," he added and Potter didn't hesitate to take Draco's shirt in hand and pull it up over his head. Potter carefully pulled Draco's arms free with one hand, his other resting on Draco's back between his shoulder blades and holding him close; his fingers splayed out on Draco's skin and feeling so warm.

Draco slowly wrapped his arms around Potter's neck and rested their foreheads together, breathing heavily. Potter's breathing was also more laboured than normal and Draco was pleased to note that Potter obviously couldn't keep his reactions to his activities with Draco completely under control.

Tilting his face slightly, Draco captured Potter's lips in another brief kiss, feeling dazed. He was willing to bet that Potter would do anything he asked, absolutely anything…_No. _He tried to tell himself. _Blaise said…something about a plan…_

"Touch me," he breathed and forgot all about stupid Blaise and his stupid plan as Potter's hands slid down his back and across his waist, making gooseflesh erupt over his body at the touch. Fuck telling Potter he knew, this was a chance he simply couldn't lose. And thinking about it, he should really see if he could push Potter into refusing before he admitted he knew. Yeah, that'd work better, and probably lessened the odds of Draco ending up taking a fist to his face.

"In a minute-" he said hoarsely as Potter's hands slid up the backs of his arms that were still wrapped around Potter's neck. "I want you to get on your knees…" he hesitated and swore he felt Potter's hands falter fractionally on their journey over his skin, but they continued rather than stopping and Draco drew courage from that. "I want you to get on your knees and suck my dick, Potter."

He was insane. He knew it. Blaise had been right. But Blaise had also said Potter was insane and that had to be fucking true as well because Potter was gently kissing him once more, then slowly dropping to his knees before Draco and running his hands down his sides, his fingers reaching for the buttons on Draco's trousers.

_Merlin, he's actually going to do it…_ Draco thought dazedly as Potter undid the buttons slowly, making Draco's already erect cock harden to the verge of pain.

There was a moment of panic in which Draco wondered if Potter had been biding his time and was going to exact revenge on Draco by biting him, but then his trousers and underwear were being pulled down around his thighs and Potter's hot breath was ghosting over the head of his cock and Draco found it difficult to think before he even got to worrying about anything. The problem intensified as a tentative hand came up to grip hold of Draco, fingers cool on his hot flesh, making Draco breathe in sharply.

He didn't look away. He wanted to watch every single moment of this and remember it perfectly so he could replay it over and over whenever he wanted. He suspected a lot of men in this situation would be smugly rejoicing that it was the Chosen One who was on his knees sucking their dick, but to Draco he was close to passing out because it was just _Harry_. The boy he'd lusted after for years and desperately tried to shake out of his brain, and now…

Eyes half lidded and breathing heavy, he watched as Potter pressed a kiss to the side of Draco's cock before taking him into his mouth and sucking lightly.

"Fuck," Draco moaned, one hand coming up to thread into the hair on the back of Potter's head, holding him in place as he continued to suck lightly, taking a little more of Draco into his mouth. His fingers clenched convulsively in the black strands and he wished that Potter would stop with the maddeningly light attentions and move onto something rougher. And then he remembered that Potter was meant to be Imperiused so he'd have to do whatever Draco suggested or risk blowing his cover-

"More," Draco breathed. "Harder, Harry-"

His words disintegrated into a moan as Harry obliged him by sucking harder, hard enough to make his cheeks hollow every time he pulled back a little, only to plunge back down so Draco could feel the blunt head of his cock pressing against the back of Potter's throat. Over and over again Draco watched his erection slipping into the mouth of the Gryffindor, his hips twitching minutely, biting his lip to try and stop himself from showering Harry with words of praise and adulation.

He wasn't sure if was purely the physical act that was making his climax rush forth was unnerving speed; he was having to desperately hold back so he could carry this on for as long as possible. The sensations were definitely incredible but it was the thought that it was Harry willingly doing these things to him that were driving Draco over the edge.

"Don't pull away," he gasped, bringing his other hand from where it had been fisted at his side to join the one that was on the back of Potter's head. "Don't you dare pull away."

His rational brain knew it would be kinder to give Potter the option of not swallowing but Draco was too far gone to care, and anyway, if Potter was stupid enough to play this 'I am Imperiused so do as you will with me' game then he should really man up and suffer the consequences.

One last plunge into Potter's eager mouth ripped Draco's climax from him; his head snapped back and his vision went white as he thrust his hips forwards, holding Potter's head to him with both hands and probably unnecessary force. He rocked his hips back and forth, riding out the last of his orgasm, gasping as he looked down at Potter who had stilled, letting Draco come to his completion as he wanted, letting Draco slowly fuck his mouth until he was done and sated.

Draco's legs were too shaky to support his weight so he pushed Potter back and dropped to his knees, reaching forwards to cup Potter's face in his hands, breathing heavily. On impulse he leant forwards and kissed him hard, pressing their mouths together and clenching his eyes shut to try and stop the rush of emotions that were trying to break free.

He pulled back and rested his forehead on Potter's, his eyes still shut. "You know I never meant to hurt you," he blurted before he could stop himself. "I always just- fuck."

Wrenching himself away before his mouth could betray him anymore, Draco stood up, pulling his underwear and trousers back up, shaking unstoppably. "I'm sorry. You know I'm-"

He started to back away from Harry who stayed exactly where he was, sat on his heels and watching Draco carefully, driving Draco to distraction; was he not going to admit he was faking? Why wouldn't he say anything?

Draco buttoned himself up and took another step back, but then his feet stopped and his restraint broke. He lunged back to Harry, dropping to his knees which hit the floor painfully, seizing Harry with his arms around his neck, kissing him fiercely. Arms came up to wrap back around him and Draco forgot that he hadn't issued any such command. He kissed Harry hard, and then pulled away for the last time, knowing that if he didn't go now, he never would.

He leant back and groped behind him, trying to locate Harry's glasses which had been knocked off earlier. His fingers closed around the thin metal frames and he bought them around, pressing them into Harry's hand, closing his fingers around them. He gently kissed Harry one last time before getting up and walking away, not able to look back as he left the room, closing the door behind him and his voice trembling as he quietly whispered _finite_.


	4. Daylight

AN: A huge THANK YOU to Xana Belle, Malfoy Unforgiven and faircreatureofanhour who looked over this for me. I'm now ridiculously entertained by the notion of having my own little beta army XD So thank those guys for the fact that this chapter now makes sense.

And thank you to everyone else who volunteered to look over- I'd have sent it to all of you if I could but then there would be nobody to review the fixed version and I'm too impatient. I'm honestly blown away by how wonderful you guys all are :)

IMPORTANT POINT: I didn't want to have to do this but argh, I'd rather not get murdered by the FF monkeys or get any angry WTF reviews. Just to clarify- Harry CAN throw off the Imperius curse and for whatever reason is PRETENDING, so all their naughty activities are perfectly consensual. I hope you enjoyed said naughty activities by the way; someone called smut so I delivered (well, tried to anyway-smut is not my strong point).

* * *

Blaise Zabini snapped his eyes open as he heard a voice next to his bed on just the other side of the curtains, and what worried him and made him instantly alert was the fact that the voice had clearly just muttered the counter-charm to the locking spell he had put on his curtains prior to falling asleep.

Before he could say anything, the curtains were wrenched open and Draco dived through the gap, tumbling onto Blaise's bed, looking flushed and frantic.

"Draco, what-? Get out of my bed you great gay!" he said indignantly as Draco shut the curtains again and reset the charm, adding a silencing one for good measure.

"I'm here to talk to you, not grope you!" Draco said impatiently.

"Get your hands where I can see them."

Draco rolled his eyes. "As much as I love your light hearted homophobia at the best of times, not now."

"What can I say to make you go?" Blaise groaned. "I want to sleep."

"Fine," Draco huffed and made to head towards the break in the curtains again. "I won't tell you the story about Potter giving someone a blowjob whilst pretending to be under the Imperius curse-"

"_What?_"

Draco felt Blaise grab the back of his shirt and yank him backwards so he fell onto his back, becoming promptly pinned down by two hands planted on his chest. "Why, Blaise, if you wanted me on my back…"

"Shut up," Blaise said with a withering look, sitting back and letting Draco go. "Are you serious? What happened?"

"He fucking found me before I even got to the bathroom," Draco said, rolling over to lie on his side, frowning slightly. "I don't know how. But I told him if he didn't bugger off I'd curse him, and he said I wouldn't dare."

"So you did?" Blaise asked and Draco nodded.

"Exactly the same as last time," Draco said. "I cursed him and I think I proper got him, I mean, I don't think he was faking it…and then I said his name and he blinked and he kind of refocused, just like last time."

"So you can tell he's faking it?"

Draco nodded, fiddling with Blaise's bedspread. "I think so, now I'm looking for it. You can actually see when his rational thought turns back on."

"And he still went down on you?" Blaise asked and Draco shot him a grin.

"Yes he did."

"I'm guessing it was rather more than satisfactory considering the shit eating grin that's on your face right now?" Blaise asked, amused.

"It's just…I- him. It's him," Draco said lamely, his grin fading and giving way to a troubled expression.

"Yeah, I get you," Blaise said, saving Draco the trouble of having to try and talk about his feelings, something that inevitably ended with an argument, lots of swearing and Draco not talking to him for a week. And right now, he wanted to know more about this episode with Potter.

"Did you _finite_ it, like we said?" Blaise asked and was surprised to see a blush gracing Draco's cheeks.

"No," Draco admitted. "I got… carried away."

Blaise gave him a reproachful look and then sighed. "I suppose it's easy to forget when you've got your cock in someone's mouth."

"Shut up," Draco said without heat. "I did think though that maybe-

"Now I know you're lying, you don't have the capacity to think when you've got your cock in someone's mouth."

"_Blaise!_"

"Sorry."

Draco glared at him. "I _did _think for your information, and I think it's better to push him into admitting it rather than me abruptly lifting the curse. He's less likely to kill me that way."

"Rubbish," Blaise said. "You just want more sex with Potter."

"Yes, but I'd rather have more sex with Potter when he's not pretending to be cursed," Draco said flatly.

"Merlin, you've got it _bad_," Blaise sighed and Draco pulled a face at him before reaching for a pillow and pulling it down to him, shifting into a more comfortable position. "What are you doing? You are not sleeping in here!" Blaise gave Draco a shove with his foot.

"Course not," Draco yawned, his eyes already shut.

"Draco!" Blaise repeated indignantly and then gave up when it became apparent that Draco was going to ignore him. Stupid Draco and his stupid desire for comfort that he wouldn't ever admit to, Blaise thought fondly. Oh well. As long as Draco didn't mistake him for Potter at some point in the night, he supposed he'd be alright.

* * *

"Harry? You alright mate?"

Harry started at the sound of his name and realised that he'd been stood still, staring at nothing in the mirror for quite some time, one hand on the still running tap and his toothbrush hanging out of his mouth.

"Wha?" he asked, hurriedly taking his toothbrush out of his mouth. "Yeah. I'm…what?"

"Are you OK?" Ron repeated.

"Yeah," Harry said hurriedly, turning the tap off. Ron didn't leave; instead he hovered in the doorway, clearly waiting uncertainly for some insight into what was bothering Harry.

Harry sighed. He just couldn't tell him. How did he even start? Hey, by the way Ron, I won't be getting back with your sister because I'm pretty sure I'm gay and I've been having illicit encounters with Draco Malfoy who managed to curse me and thinks he had me under the Imperius curse during said encounters. No. That wouldn't go down well, at all.

Harry shook his head. He was exhausted. Being a nocturnal plaything for Draco Malfoy was tiring work indeed.

"I'm fine, Ron, really," Harry said, pushing his worries away and turning to give Ron a reassuring smile. "Just not sleeping well, and you know what being tired does to me."

"You been wandering around at night again?" Ron asked, looking somewhat appeased by Harry's explanation.

Harry shrugged vaguely and turned back to Ron into the dorm. "Something like that."

* * *

The rest of the day passed in a blur for Harry. His mind was a million miles away; firmly focused on a certain sneaky Slytherin and definitely not on double Transfiguration and Charms. He could only be thankful he didn't have Potions; in his current state he wouldn't put it past himself to join Neville or Seamus in melting cauldrons and blowing things up.

He spent the morning asking himself just what the hell he was playing at, and coming up with no satisfactory answers. The memory of the previous night aroused and mortified him in equal parts and he couldn't decide which he was more worried about.

It was easy to rationalise why he hadn't immediately revealed to Draco that the Imperius curse didn't work on him; he hadn't wanted to spook an obviously easily startled and panicky boy who was unexpectedly and shockingly quick at cursing. He had decided it would be much better to be careful and just wait it out to see what Malfoy would do instead of risking any more curses being fired in his direction.

And when Draco had requested the kiss…It had been so, so easy for Harry to lean forwards and do it. Anything to keep Draco from cursing him again, he had told himself. It was some point after Draco had slipped his tongue into Harry's mouth that Harry had to concede that maybe he liked this a tad too much to blame it purely on not wanting to be cursed…

His brain hurt. On top of the revelation that he quite liked kissing boys (_and_ sucking them off, added his brain helpfully) he had the moral dilemma of who was exhibiting worse behaviour; Malfoy for cursing him, or him going along with it and letting Malfoy think it had worked.

He was so distracted by his thoughts that he took two wrong turns on the way to History of Magic after lunch. He hated this class which was now compulsory for everyone in the school, with the aim of trying to educate young witches and wizards about their culture and the events that led up to the war in order to prevent such atrocities happening again. To Harry it was still just an hour in which to catch up on sleep.

Stumbling through the doorway five minutes late, he quickly wished he hadn't bothered to turn up at all as there would be no way he would be napping this time. There was one spare seat right at the back and it was next to- _oh god no_- Malfoy.

The possibility of doing a runner was obliterated as several students turned in their seats to look at him; Malfoy included. The Slytherin's eyes widened fractionally and then he turned back to the front, his head bowed over a book. Harry bit his lip and then as more students turned to see why he was hovering in the doorway, he had no choice but to step forwards and slide into the seat next to Draco.

It was worse than he had imagined. Draco didn't turn to look at him but his traitorous body reacted happily to being so close to the blonde, and Harry spent a frantic five minutes trying to think about _anything _that would make his erection subside. It didn't work very well; he kept remembering what he had done to Draco the previous night- the way Draco had moaned so prettily and held Harry to him with his fingers threaded in his hair, his legs trembling every time Harry ran his tongue firmly up the underside of his cock-

Harry mentally slapped himself to stop the recollections. Fuck! This was ridiculous! If it had been under normal circumstances (or more normal than _this _at any rate) Harry could get through it- work past the awkwardness with a smile, or a whispered comment or _something_. The added complication of the curse meant that that was simply not an option.

He risked a glance over at Draco, who was still engrossed in his book. Something to do with potions by the look of it. How could he be so unaffected by all of this? How the hell was he not a quivering wreck when he was sat next to the boy he had cursed-

Anger quickly superseded any worry Harry had been feeling up until that point. The bottom line was Draco had been taking advantage of him, thinking he was controlling him. Fuck the point that Harry was willing- Draco didn't know that, and that made him a _bastard_.

The tentative thoughts Harry had entertained that Draco had been doing this because he possibly _liked_ Harry were abandoned. The memory of how Draco had ran back to him and kissed him, before gently passing Harry his glasses had done a lot to aid that train of thought: if Draco was doing this just for kicks, why bother kissing Harry and holding Harry like he had done? That didn't matter now; Harry was now so wound up and angry at the situation that before he knew what was going on, determined to vent some of his anger, he had aimed a kick at Draco under the desk.

"Ow!" Draco gasped, jumping in shock and pain and bent over to grasp his shin under the table, turning wide eyes on Harry, who glared straight back, with enough force to make Draco blanch.

"Not now," Draco mouthed, his eyes locked on Harry's, making more anger blaze through Harry. _Not now?_ The perverted _fuck_ knew what Harry was angry about and all he could say was _not now_?

"You cursed me!" Harry hissed and Draco winced slightly, obviously expecting more violence. When none came he met Harry's angry gaze, looking suddenly furious himself-

"You let me!" he retorted and Harry balked. "I gave you plenty of warning." Draco added under his breath and Harry found he didn't have a comeback. He abruptly turned back to his parchment which was still blank, not knowing what to say.

The anger faded a little as Harry reflected that Draco was right. It wasn't as if the Slytherin had hidden behind a door and jumped out on Harry, cursing him before he could react…Harry had walked up to the blonde, knowing full well what Draco was going to do, ignoring him even as Draco gave him warning that he would do it again if Harry didn't leave…

Harry glanced back at Draco to see the blonde was looking at him, chewing his lip and looking like he was about to say something, but as Harry raised an eyebrow Draco turned away, his jaw clenching as he stared back down at his book.

Shame rolled over Harry in cold uncomfortable waves to join the anger as realisation hit him; he was well and truly obsessed with Draco Malfoy once again. He was pretending to be under the Imperius curse to get close to his former enemy, a stupid blonde Slytherin who was only out to get some action and scorn Harry along the way, and would never _ever_ want him by the light of day.

Some days, Harry really hated his life. And right now, he really hated Malfoy.

* * *

Draco looked at his watch, feeling completely miserable. It was four AM and he was pacing the corridors of the sixth floor and had been for hours.

He supposed he should have expected this after his encounter with Potter in History of Magic. He had been fairly terrified by Potter being quite so close to him, and had been so close to opening his mouth to suggest they talk about the situation when Potter had unexpectedly and out of the blue kicked him, hard enough to leave a depressingly blue bruise on his shin.

That was his life all over really, Draco thought as he gave up waiting for Potter to show and headed back towards the dungeons to catch a couple of hours sleep before he had to get up again. Even thinking about being honest with Potter had landed him on the receiving end of a physical assault.

The way Potter had bolted after the History of Magic class confirmed just how much Potter didn't want to be anywhere near Draco, outside of morally questionable sexual encounters. Potter was clearly only interested in the sexual part of their meetings, and was probably just using Draco for his own forays into homosexual territory. Either that or he was playing some sort of sick mind game with Draco and was plotting to crush his spirit or break his mind.

And it was working, thought Draco dejectedly: he was well on his way to being both crushed and snapped by this mess. Fuck, he should have just told him whilst he had the chance, told him he knew Potter was faking-

Oh well. It was really ludicrous for him to even contemplate the notion that this could all work out well; the completely stupid idea that Potter was doing this because he _liked _Draco. The Chosen One and an Ex-Death Eater in a relationship? Things like that just didn't happen.

Draco hated people. And at that moment, he hated Potter just that little bit more than everyone else.


	5. Collision

AN: Thank you to Xana Belle for her awesome beta work. Between us we kick sentence ass.

* * *

After the History of Magic incident Harry made a conscious decision to keep well out of Draco's way for as long as he could manage. He stopped wandering the castle at night and kept the Marauders map with him at all times, one eye on the dot labelled Draco Malfoy to ensure they wouldn't run into each other unless it were completely unavoidable.

His initial rationale in avoiding Draco had been 'out of sight out of mind', but he ruined that himself by his constant examination of the Marauders map in search of the dot that corresponded with the Slytherin. This obsessive perusal let him know that even if he had discontinued, Draco had not ceased in his night-time wanderings. Harry ended up spending an unhealthy amount of time sitting in his bed late at night and watching the tiny black dot by wandlight, fighting the almost unbearable urge to go and find the blonde. He resisted mainly because he couldn't work out if he wanted to find Draco to confess to him, confront him or kiss him.

There were of course times when he couldn't completely avoid Draco, and these inescapable moments in classes and in the communal areas of the castle were only just short of torture.

Brushing past Draco on the way out of the Great Hall one morning nearly caused Harry to jump on him and ravish him right then and there against the doors. A simultaneous glance across the library in which their eyes met for a fraction of a second made Harry blush violently and stammer confusedly when Hermione tried to talk to him.

The final straw came last thing on Friday in Potions; a whole week after Harry had made his resolution. Harry had happened to look over to the next table to see Draco sucking lightly and distractedly on the end of his quill; his brow furrowed in concentration as he looked down at his notes. A glimpse of pink tongue and Harry had dropped the vial in his hand, which hit the stone floor and smashed everywhere. His mishap resulted in near panic as everyone dived across the room trying to avoid the fumes of the dropped potion which could render someone unconscious for hours.

Harry wished the potion _had _knocked him out. He was desperate. So desperate that his resolve crumbled and that night he found himself stealing out of the portrait hole at half past two in the morning to track down Draco, consequences be damned. According to the Marauders map the Slytherin was wandering despondently along a fourth floor corridor, and Harry hastened to get there as quickly and quietly as he could.

When Harry found him, Draco was stood at the end of the corridor with his back to him, gazing fixedly up at the moon through the glass of the windows. The pale light that flooded in through the panes made Draco look almost like a ghost.

Harry stole soundlessly across the floor in his bare feet, wishing his heart wasn't hammering quite so loudly; he could hear it pounding in his ears and seemed loud enough to rouse the whole castle, and it was surely only a matter of time before Draco heard it.

"Malfoy," he said quietly the moment he was close enough.

Draco whipped around, his wand in hand as his features went slack with shock at seeing Harry standing there in front of him. Harry opened his mouth with the intention of asking if they could talk but before he could choose his words Draco's face had gone from shocked to furious and a hex was being hurled towards Harry at astonishing speed.

"Vermillious!"

A ball of orange light flew towards Harry, hitting him on the arm and making him cry out in shock. He grabbing hold of the burning spot where it had struck with his other hand and looked up just as Draco turned heel and fled, turning right and heading for the depths of the castle. Harry raced after him without a second thought, running around the corner and pointing his wand at Draco-

"Impedimenta!"

Draco ducked and the jinx hit the wall instead, missing him by inches. Harry swore, sprinting after Draco who didn't even stop to turn and try and curse him back. Instead, Draco opted for running full pelt away from Harry, doing his best to lose him in the maze of corridors. He wasn't succeeding; even if Draco knew the halls of Hogwarts well, Harry had grown up with the Marauders map and could match him step for step.

Harry saw Draco take a left turning at the end of the Transfiguration corridor and took a risk: instead of following he plunged through a hidden passageway concealed in the wall and then ripped through a tapestry on the next corridor. His lungs were burning and a stitch was knifing through his side, but he kept going, unable to let Draco get away. His risk paid off; he stumbled through the other side of the tapestry a step ahead of Draco who was running too fast to be able to avoid a collision. Harry hit him full on and Draco cried out in shock and pain as Harry shoved him across the corridor and up against the wall; grabbing Draco's wrists and pinning them either side of his head, ensuring Draco's wand was pointing away from him.

"Get, off!" Draco panted, struggling to get free.

"No, not until you talk to me," Harry responded, holding firm. Draco may have been taller but Harry was stronger and had the advantage of position and Draco quickly gave up fighting, going for a verbal attack instead.

"Do you want me to Imperius you again?" Draco hissed.

Harry felt his anger increase in response to Draco's bitter tone and tightened his grip on Draco's wrists. "_No._"

"Liar," Draco snapped back.

Harry pulled Draco's hands away from the wall and slammed them back in frustration, making the blonde let out a strangled cry. "Why the hell would I want you to?" he demanded, resolutely ignoring the part of him that was reminding him that he_ did_ want Draco to curse him again, he wanted to surrender all control and have the blonde kiss him again-

"Why?" Draco asked venomously. "I don't know- because you're a sick fuck who gets off on-"

"_I'm_ the sick fuck?" Harry asked angrily, disbelief coursing through him. "Have you any idea how wrong what you're doing is?"

"And you're letting me! If it's so wrong then why do you keep coming back?" Draco retorted. Harry's brain was screaming at him to just say yes, to admit that he was letting Draco do it, that it had started off as morbid curiosity and now all he could fucking think about was Draco. All he wanted was to taste him and have him for himself but his anger at the situation and the hurt of being rejected were making him irrational.

Draco's quiet voice made him jerk back to reality and he inwardly shivered at how the blonde was glaring at him with such hate and resentment. "Get off me Potter, or I will curse you and make you walk off the top of the astronomy tower."

"You wouldn't," Harry said, and was horrified to hear the uncertainty in his own voice.

"Shall we test that out?" Draco whispered, his face so close to Harry's that their noses were almost touching. Harry could taste Draco's breath as it whispered across his lips. They stood there, bodies pressed together and faces still so close; close enough that if Harry had dared he could have kissed him, but how could he kiss someone who was threatening to pitch him off the Astronomy Tower? It didn't matter that Harry wanted him more than anything-

Harry wrenched himself away and stormed off without a backward glance. He just had to get out of there; he couldn't handle this anymore, couldn't take the games and the hate and the way Draco was making him feel.

Left alone in the corridor, Draco couldn't hold it together any longer. He slid slowly down the wall to slump on the floor, his legs unable to support him and his mind screaming at him for letting Harry go like that. His whole body was trembling violently and he raised his hands to his face in an attempt to hide from the world, his shoulders heaving in a single dry sob.

* * *

"Were have you been?"

"Fuck!" Harry jumped out of his skin as he slipped through the portrait hole and came face to face with a concerned looking Ron Weasley who was wearing a put-out expression he had evidently borrowed from either his Mother or Hermione. Harry leant back against the wall, his hand over his heart.

"_Jesus_ Ron, don't make me jump like that!"

"Sorry. What happened to your arm?" Ron asked, gesturing worriedly to the angry red mark that was still visible from where Malfoy had hexed him.

"Oh. Erm. That. I tripped?" Harry offered but Ron shot him a withering look.

"Nice try. Now you better tell me or I'm going to hex you for having me up worried about you-"

"Malfoy did it," Harry blurted.

Ron looked shocked. "Malfoy? But I thought you two had stopped fighting this year, after everything-"

"We had," Harry admitted. "That didn't last very long."

"What were you fighting about?" Ron pressed.

The overwhelming need to share the burden he had been carrying pushed Harry to trust Ron and tell him the truth. Maybe he would have some thoughts on how Harry could get out of this, or at least he might slap him for being so _stupid_.

Harry took a deep breath. "The fact that he kissed me whilst thinking he had me under the Imperius curse."

"He did WHAT?" Ron shouted and then winced, hoping his shout wouldn't have woken anyone in the tower. He waited a fraction of a second with his eyes fixed on the ceiling and when no noise could be heard in response to his shout he turned back to Harry, looking gobsmacked.

"He did _what?_" he hissed again. "You _kissed _Malfoy?"

"He started it-" Harry began.

"But that- Imperius- kiss, but he- you-" Ron gave up on sentences, shaking his head violently, stepping away and collapsing down onto the nearest sofa and looking faintly green.

"I bumped into him in a bathroom one night when I was wandering around," Harry said hastily, joining Ron on the sofa and hoping he could explain the whole story before Ron exploded. Well, maybe not all of it- he had a feeling that the details of the second encounter with Malfoy would give Ron a stroke. "He'd Imperiused a spider and we were talking and then we started fighting and I went to stun him and he Imperiused me."

"But it doesn't work on you," Ron said faintly, his eyes glued to Harry's face.

"Yeah but he doesn't know that," Harry said and Ron's eyes widened slightly. "It didn't work properly anyway, when he had the spider he had to tell it what to do, he couldn't just think it, and I think he thought the same had happened with me, like he told me out loud what to do-"

"And he told you to kiss him?" Ron was getting paler by the second. "And you did? Why? Why not just punch him-"

"He'd managed to curse me quicker than anyone's managed in a long time," Harry said defensively. "If I had freaked him out he could have hit me with something else before I could move."

"Fuck," Ron said, rubbing his face. "What was it like? Kissing Malfoy I mean?" he asked suddenly.

"I don't know," Harry said quickly, cursing the flush he could feel rising in his neck. "It was-"

Ron interrupted him, looking horrified. "Oh god, you liked it!"

"What, no-" Harry tried desperately to say.

"Oh I can see it now," Ron wailed, grabbing a cushion and burying his face in it. "I can see it and it's _horrible_-"

"See what?" Harry demanded, tugging the cushion away. "What's horrible? Ron!"

"You and Malfoy," Ron said miserably, sitting up. "Oh God, you'll start kissing in public and live together and get married and then I'll have to be _nice _to him and have him over for dinner even though he's never once said sorry to me properly-"

Harry was rendered almost speechless. "What?" he managed to choke out. "No! I'm- Ginny-"

Ron threw him a disbelieving look. "Harry don't be a dick. Even Ginny knows you're gay."

"I am not!"

Ron sat up straight, looking right at Harry with scepticism emblazoned clearly over his face. "Right, if you're not, look me in the eye and tell me you didn't like kissing Malfoy."

Harry opened his mouth and then looked away. "Well…I did maybe a bit…" he mumbled, well aware his face was now flaming red.

"Exactly," Ron said with some satisfaction. "I just wish you could have come to this conclusion without _Malfoy_ being involved."

"Me too," Harry said moodily.

"You need to stop this though, if he's hexing you-" Ron said tentatively.

"But he's not always like this," Harry said, frustrated. "The last couple of times he's been…I don't know. Nice."

"Nice," Ron said flatly. "He has you under the Imperius curse and you're calling it nice."

"No, it's that…look, he could have done me some serious damage, right? But he didn't, he just asked for a kiss…"

Harry trailed off as he reran his own words in his head and realisation hit him with the force of a slap. The thoughts Harry had dismissed concerning Draco liking him came back in double strength and sharper focus now that his anger had receded- if Draco was just using him, he wouldn't have kissed him, wouldn't have said sorry, wouldn't have looked guilty as he left. He wouldn't have kissed him like it was the last time he'd ever see him.

"Ron, he _likes_ me." He stammered. "Fuck. Fuck!"

"As in, wants to be your boyfriend, likes you?" Ron asked warily.

"I don't know, maybe! God, I shouldn't have kicked him! I was just so confused and angry- he thinks I hate him for this but I don't, well I did but now-"

"Harry, slow down!" Ron said, looking alarmed. "You're confusing me."

"I've confused myself," Harry groaned. "I should have just told him the curse didn't work, that I wanted to-"

"Why didn't you?" Ron asked immediately.

"I don't know! Worried he'd run off, or laugh at me. I figured he was only doing this to prove a point, because he was the one in control."

"Right," Ron said, a frown on his face. "So you think Malfoy likes you and you like Malfoy, but neither of you have told each other this and just keep fighting?" Harry nodded sadly and Ron shot him an exasperated look. "You've made a right cock up of this one, haven't you?"

Harry nodded miserably and Ron sighed, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder. "I cannot believe these words are coming out of my mouth…but if you want to see if this is more than just an episode of stupendous, idiotic, madness…then you've got to come clean."

"How can I? He went mad when I went to find him tonight," Harry began desperately. "I didn't even get a word in before he'd hexed me."

"Send him a note or something," Ron suggested. "Apologise, ask to meet him to talk. Then it's up to him, right? At least you'll have tried."

"Yeah…" Harry nodded and then looked up at Ron. "Ron, why are you helping me with this? You _hate_ Malfoy."

"Well if he makes you happy…I mean you clearly don't hate him all that much anymore." Ron shrugged with a bit of a grimace. "And to be honest, I've not hated him since he hexed Smith the first day back. That was brilliant. And it takes a lot of effort to hate someone, you know? And he's…" Ron sighed again. "He's maybe not _so_ bad anymore. Although cursing you has put him right back in the 'people I would like to punch' category."

Harry gave a short laugh. "Yeah, I know how that feels."

"Just, tell me now and then I'll support you if you, y'know, try and sort it out, and I promise to only doubt your sanity on holidays and when I'm drinking." Ron took a deep breath. "Does it really have to be Malfoy?"

Harry looked at Ron with a rueful smile. "Yeah. I think it does."

* * *

Draco let his book drop forwards onto his chest, rubbing his eyes. He had read the same sentence eight times and would still be hard pressed to tell anyone what it had said. He was tired, miserable, and not in the mood for anything, let alone studying.

He heard the door open and looked up, craning his neck from where he was laid flat out on his back on his bed. He saw Blaise negotiating the door, albeit with some difficulty. He was balancing a plate laden with food in one hand, a goblet in the other and had an envelope clamped in his mouth.

Draco sat up and smiled weakly as Blaise passed him the food and drink, looking irritable, snatching the envelope out of his mouth the moment his hands were free.

"There's your dinner you great drama queen."

"You didn't have to," Draco said quietly and Blaise sighed.

"I know. But I'm not having you starve on my watch. You can owe me," he said.

Draco nodded and leant back to put the drink on his bedside cabinet and looked in surprise as Blaise held the envelope out to him.

"What's this?" Draco asked warily.

"Dessert," Blaise deadpanned. "It's a letter. Idiot."

Draco took it and ripped it open with his teeth, struggling to use one hand to impatiently pull out the slip of parchment that was inside. His eyes scanned the words and he nearly choked on air, looking up at Blaise.

"Who gave you this?" he asked hoarsely.

"Who do you think?" Blaise said. "Potter."

Draco thrust the parchment to Blaise who read it, whistling through his teeth as he did.

"And this coming after you hexed him?"

"No way, this can't be- he hates me," Draco babbled. "He kicked me, he went mental at me. How can he be cool with this?"

"Maybe he knows that you know he's faking it," Blaise suggested. "Either that or he just really wants to suck your cock again."

"Shut up," Draco said distractedly. "What do I do?"

Staring down at ten words which either spelled terrible or wonderful news for him with his hands trembling, he was torn. This was undoubtedly an opportunity like he'd never get again, but could he trust Potter to have good intentions?

_Draco. Forget the fighting. I'm still game if you are._


	6. Stripped

Thank you to Xana Belle for her wonderful beta skills XD

* * *

_The ultimate defence is to pretend…_

* * *

Draco ran his fingers absent-mindedly over the edge of the worn parchment he held in his hand; since receiving it a couple of hours ago he had reread the note from Harry so many times that the parchment was already getting tatty and the ink was fading.

Why had Potter suddenly changed his mind about this, this supposed 'game' they were playing? The last encounter had made Draco believe Potter was furious with him, but now that didn't make sense anymore. The only conclusions that he could draw weren't comforting ones; either that Potter was just as confused about the whole situation as Draco, or Potter was so twisted he couldn't get by without the morally questionable sexual encounters.

Draco knew that coming clean was probably his best option but he was terrified of the idea. Coming clean would involve firstly admitting he had known about the curse not working and not owning up about it. He didn't think Potter would be too surprised at all to learn that Draco had lied but he doubted it would go down well regardless, especially with the honour-loving Gryffindor. Secondly, if he was honest he would have to admit why he had continued to curse Potter and that would mean telling him that he was head over heels in love with him and had been since he was about thirteen.

Lucius Malfoy had always made Draco feel like his emotions were something to be kept hidden, a weakness, something a Malfoy shouldn't have. The desire to please his Father and honour the family name had died long ago but Draco had never learnt to deal with his feelings, let alone be honest about them, and telling Harry Potter he was in love with him was frankly a terrifying proposition.

To put it lightly, Draco didn't take rejection well. If he had been a bastard to Potter for seven years for refusing his friendship when they were eleven…Draco couldn't bear to imagine his own reaction to Harry rejecting him romantically.

He looked back down at the note, swallowing thickly.

_I'm still game if you are._

He stood up and shoved the note into his pocket, checking his watch. Just gone curfew. It was now or never…He steeled himself and then stepped towards the door but before he could leave the dormitory, the door opened and Blaise walked in.

"Are you going?" he asked without preamble and Draco nodded. Blaise frowned at him. "Then why do you look so miserable?"

"Because," Draco said quietly. "This is just a game to him, isn't it?"

Blaise eyed him, unsure of what to say. "I don't know," he said slowly.

Draco shrugged and walked towards the door. "Never mind. It's just one big mess. I'm not going to get what I want out of this."

"Then why are you still going?" Blaise asked him.

"To get laid," Draco said offhandedly. "Might as well get what I can while I can."

"Draco…" Blaise said, looking at his friend sadly, fighting exasperation. "Come on, maybe it's not that bad. Maybe he feels the same, if you just talk to him-"

"Don't." Draco said shortly. "I'm not getting my hopes up, so just don't."

"You're unbelievable," Blaise snapped. "You're just scared of him knowing how you feel-"

"Shut up," Draco warned.

"You know I'm right," Blaise said.

"So fucking what if you are," Draco retorted. "Fine, yes, I don't want him knowing how I feel because it's pointless and ridiculous-"

"You sound just like your Father," Blaise said angrily. "There is nothing wrong with love, Draco."

"There is when someone doesn't love you back!" Draco shouted back. "You have no idea what it's like, you _always_ get what you want and who you want, it's just too hard to have it thrown back in your face and you've got no _idea_ what that feels like."

Silence fell and Draco looked away, folding his arms tightly across his chest and looking resolutely away from Blaise. Blaise breathed out deeply, watching Draco and not having a clue what to do.

"Draco…you'll never know if you don't risk it," he said shortly. "And if you go out and carry on this game and fuck him without letting him know how you feel, you'll regret it."

"I'll add it to the list," Draco snapped, walking over to the door. "There's a million things I regret, what's one more?"

"Draco, don't do this-"

"Shut _up_," Draco said again, this time his tone threatening. "This is none of your business. I'm going to curse Potter again and if he's stupid enough to play along again I'm going to fuck him, and then I'm going to leave and not have my heart broken. Now fuck off and leave me to it."

Draco stormed out, slamming the door behind him and leaving Blaise staring after him, lost for words.

* * *

Harry's eyes flicked back to the Marauders map which was spread out next to the essay he was half heartedly writing and his heart immediately leapt; the small dot belonging to Malfoy that had spent the whole evening in the Slytherin dungeon was no longer there, which meant the blonde had agreed to Harry's note and was heading out to meet him.

"Right, I'm going to go for a wander," Harry said, grabbing the map and shoving it into his bag which currently held his invisibility cloak.

Hermione looked up at him, nodding. "Just be careful," she said quietly and Harry gave her a small smile. She had never once tried to persuade Harry not to go wandering around after curfew; she understood his need to sometimes get away from it all so never tried to stop him. She always said the same thing though when he did go; a quiet request for him to be careful.

"I will," he replied as usual and met Ron's eyes for a brief moment, who nodded almost imperceptibly. Harry gave him a brief smile in acknowledgement and then headed out of the portrait hole.

Ron turned back to his essay, ready to try and start his next paragraph but a sharp voice interrupted his concentration.

"So. Are you going to tell me what's going on with Harry or am I going to have to hex it out of you?"

He looked up at Hermione, who was sat looking at him with a stern expression on her face and her arms folded, her books abandoned in front of her. Ron gulped; Hermione must mean business if she were ignoring her studies in favour of interrogating him.

"Erm…nothing?" Ron tried but she narrowed her eyes and he sighed, putting his quill down and looking around the common room to check they wouldn't be overheard. He figured they'd be OK; three fourth years were playing exploding snap close to the fire alongside some first years playing chess, a few sixth years were working at a table on the opposite side of the room and Lavender Brown and Seamus Finnegan were wrapped up in an armchair together and completely oblivious to the rest of the room.

"Promise you won't freak out?" Ron asked in a low voice.

Hermione's eyebrows rose sharply. "Is it that bad?"

Ron nodded. "Yep."

"What is it?" Hermione asked urgently. "Is he seeing someone? Is it…" she blushed a little. "Is it a boy?"

"It's Malfoy," Ron blurted out and had to resist the urge to laugh as Hermione's jaw dropped and she stared at him, aghast.

"That's not all," Ron said. "They got together because Malfoy hit him with the Imperius curse and told him to kiss him and Harry's been playing along with it."

"What?" Hermione repeated weakly.

"They got in a fight and Malfoy hit Harry with the Imperius curse and doesn't know it doesn't work. He's been telling Harry to do all sorts of stuff with him and Harry's been playing along because for some reason he says he likes the git-"

"But that's horrific! He can't try and control Harry like that, and what on _Earth_ is Harry doing, _pretending_-" Hermione suddenly stopped and clapped a hand over her mouth in shock, her eyes as round as saucers.

"Ron, he knows!"

"Who knows? What?" Ron asked, frowning.

"Malfoy knows it doesn't work!" she exclaimed, looking horrified. "Zabini asked me ages ago about it, he said he was doing a project on the Imperius Curse for extended defence and I told him it doesn't work on Harry and Malfoy was sat right next to him! He definitely heard me and if he didn't, Zabini will have told him!"

"Malfoy _knows?_" Ron gaped. "But that means he's been lying to Harry- they've _both_ been lying?"

"But, why would-" Hermione pressed her hands to her eyes, trying to collect her thoughts. "This makes no sense."

"Since when does anything Harry does ever make sense?" Ron asked.

"But…if he likes Malfoy…And if Malfoy knows the curse doesn't work and Harry's been doing it willingly…" Hermione pulled her hands away from her face and stared at Ron who was looking slightly pale under his freckles. "Has he gone to find him now?"

"Yeah, he sent him a note saying he was still willing to play the game…" Ron trailed off. "God, we've got to tell him. It'll be a bloodbath if they find out they've been playing each other, God knows what Malfoy is playing at if he _knows_ Harry's faking it- God, they're never going to sort this out if neither of them comes clean!"

"Well come on," Hermione said, standing up distractedly. "We've got to go and find him."

"Oh God," Ron groaned, heaving himself up out of the armchair and following Hermione to the portrait hole. "One day, maybe he'll keep himself out of trouble for five bloody minutes."

* * *

Draco stole silently and slowly up to the seventh floor and along a deserted corridor, picking a door at random and slipping inside. He found himself in an old Arithmancy room that looked like it hadn't been used in years but the setting didn't matter. He didn't care where they were really, and trusted Potters unnatural ability to find him to lead him here.

He was right. He waited only ten minutes, sitting cross legged on a desk before the door was slowly opening again, and Harry was sneaking inside, shutting the door after him.

"So. You still want to play?" he asked the moment the door was closed and locked, dropping his bag to the floor. Draco raised his wand and pointed it at his face in response.

"How do you know I'm not going to walk you off the astronomy tower?" Draco asked. "You're being awfully trusting of someone who's not got the best reputation for it."

"I don't," Harry said honestly. "But I don't think you will."

Draco looked back at him, his eyes scanning over his messy hair and his flushed cheeks. Silence continued for a moment longer, and when it became clear that Harry wasn't going to break it, Draco did. "Three," he said quietly, allowing Harry the courtesy countdown to change his mind and leave if he wished. "Two. One. Imperio."

Draco felt something strange shift inside him at the same moment the tingling sensation descended on his arm. He recognised the familiar burning ache, the yearning for Potter that ran through his body but now it was joined by an innate sadness, a disassociation with the situation, a resignation that this would never be what he wanted it to be.

"Harry," he said quietly and even though his eyes didn't open Draco knew that he could hear him. "Come here."

Harry obediently walked up to him and Draco uncrossed his legs, dangling them off the edge of the desk and fitting Harry perfectly between them. Draco slipped his hands onto either side of Harry's face and leant close to his ear, the strange uncomfortable feeling inside him doubling in intensity as he spoke, his voice at a whisper.

"I'm going to fuck you, Potter. I hope you know that."

He felt Harry tense slightly in his arms but the Gryffindor didn't pull away. _Stupid Gryffindor bravery…_ Draco thought dejectedly. That had been the moment for Potter to pull away and admit he was faking if he were going to do any such thing, but the moment was slipping away and then was gone, and Draco felt any hope for a happy ending to this scenario bursting into flames and crashing to the ground.

Well, if Potter was still willing to play this sick game that Draco no longer knew the score of, Draco was damn sure going to get something out of it. If Potter was going to break his heart, he was going to go out in style- making sure Potter would never forgot him by fucking him into oblivion.

"Kiss me," Draco whispered and Harry obliged, capturing Draco's lips in a gentle kiss. Draco managed to lose himself the moment Harry's lips touched his, breathing in his taste and kissing him back hungrily.

Draco seized the bottom of Harry's T-shirt and pulled it up over his head, breaking their fevered kisses. "Take mine off," Draco instructed and Harry obliged, pulling Draco's shirt over his head. He slid off the edge of the desk, pressing his crotch firmly into Harry's and feeling the other boy gasp in response.

"Take your clothes off and lie on the floor," Draco managed to breathe against Harry's lips, violently trembling. He had the sense of mind to grab his wand off the desk and cast a cushioning charm on the floor to make it slightly more comfortable.

Harry nodded, his hands going to his own belt buckle and slowly pulling it open, pushing his jeans down and allowing Draco to gaze upon his erection which was clearly visible straining against the thin material of his boxers.

At this point desire was drowning out Draco's negativity, and as Harry slowly toed his shoes and socks off before kicking his jeans off, Draco moaned aloud and grabbed him again, kissing him hard and pressing up against him desperately. Harry responded by attempting to tug Draco's trousers down using one hand, the other on the back of Draco's head, holding him close as they kissed. They both staggered slightly as they dropped to their knees on the floor, still kissing fiercely and holding onto each other so tightly. Draco pushed Harry onto his back and straddled over him, resting on his elbow with his forearm resting alongside Harry's head, his other hand sliding gently down Harry's torso and making him shudder. He could feel how Harry was shifting slightly, clearly desperate for some relief for his arousal.

"You have no idea, how long I've waited-" Draco made a frustrated growl and crashed his mouth to Harry's to stop the words he couldn't seem to be able to keep in. Harry laid back and accepted the fierce assault until Draco pulled back, kneeling up and reached back, blindly groping for his wand.

His fingers closed around the wood and as he looked down on Harry's panting form, he could see just how much Harry wanted this, could feel the need rolling off of him, but somehow it still didn't feel right.

What was wrong with him? Draco had Potter right where he wanted, and he was moments away from taking Harry and claiming him as his own, the words were on his tongue to cast a lubrication charm on the boy beneath him so he could finally, finally get what he wanted, what he needed-

Desperation was welling inside Draco again and his wand trembled in his hand. He _had_ to do this, this would be the only chance he ever had, but this was all wrong. In his dreams Harry kissed him back and touched him when and as he wanted, and he held Draco down to take care of him-

He met Harry's eyes and made his choice.

"Finite."

Draco saw Harry's eyes widen in panic and shock in response to the quietly spoken word and looked away quickly, shaking his head and moving away, pulling his trousers back up. He couldn't do it. He thought he'd be able to nail Potter and get by on vindictive pleasure to mask his broken heart but it wasn't going to work.

"I know you're faking," he said quietly. "And I don't want to do this like this. Go. I'm not playing anymore. "


	7. End game

SORRY! To be short: wasn't happy- yanked the chapter and reposted END GAME 2.0: the mean edit. "Oh but that's not good writing etiquette!" I hear you cry. I don't care. This version is slightly less fluffy and Draco and Harry are much more my style. I think it does the characters and the situation more justice than the last edit did and for that I feel it is SO much better. I am now happy, and I hope you shall be too.

* * *

Harry unsteadily propped himself up on his elbows and watched, trembling uncontrollably as Draco shook his head and shifted backwards, his hands shaking. Harry had initially been planning to go along with this encounter and then try to talk to Draco about the possibility of meeting without any cursing- but this unexpected turn had thrown that plan out of the window and then locked the window after it for good measure.

"You knew I was faking?" Harry whispered and Draco froze. Grey eyes slowly moved back to Harry's and Draco nodded slowly, looking petrified.

"Why didn't you…why are you not mad?"

"Why are you not mad that I cursed you?" Draco countered.

"Malfoy," Harry began helplessly, sitting up and reaching out, holding onto Draco's elbow.

"Don't," Draco said and attempted to twist his arm out of Harry's grip but Harry held on tightly, feeling a bubble of something warm and delightful expanding in his chest. Draco had just sacrificed the chance to nail him because he wanted something different, wanted something _more_. He wanted to grab Draco and kiss him and never let him go but he knew that in a moment like this he had to tread carefully so they didn't end up fighting.

"I'm not letting go," Harry said carefully and Draco immediately froze. "Tell me what's going on here."

"No!"

"Malfoy, please," Harry pleaded, pulling Draco sharply to him, taking Draco's head in his hands. Draco shook his head stubbornly and Harry bit his lip, wanting to cry out in frustration. Why wouldn't Draco just tell him-?

Oh.

Harry nearly laughed as realisation sunk in. This was _Draco Malfoy_ he was dealing with. An infamously volatile, emotionally violent boy who Harry knew had been raised in a cold detached environment, with a cruel Father who had spared very little towards his feelings. And a Slytherin to boot, Harry reminded himself, who wouldn't put his own feelings on the line unless there was good reason or reward.

Harry relaxed his grip on Draco's face and gently ran his thumbs across his cheekbones. He saw Draco's eyes lift uncertainly, as if disconcerted by Harry's sudden gentleness, and Harry knew exactly what he had to do.

"I want you," he said and Draco's eyes snapped up all the way to meet his. "I don't care that you cursed me, I don't care about any of that. I can't get you out of my head and right now all I want is to get you in my bed, fuck you silly then wake up with you in the morning, every morning."

Draco continued to stare at him, his mouth slightly open, his breathing shallow.

"I want this," Harry breathed. "And I'm just so glad you told me, because now…" he looked away, knowing he was blushing but drawing on his fabled Gryffindor courage to get the rest of his sentence out. "Because now we can do this the way you want."

The expression on Draco's face clearly showed how he was torn between giving in to his feelings and arguing some more so Harry promptly resorted to his back up plan; he kissed Draco hard, holding onto him so tightly that it probably hurt. He felt Draco tense in his arms and inhale sharply and then the blonde was kissing him back, wrapping his arms around him and awkwardly clambering onto Harry's lap, pressing his body against Harry's.

"Trust me," Harry whispered and Draco nodded dumbly. "Just trust me, and come with me."

Harry pushed Draco off his lap and climbed to his feet, pulling up Draco who stumbled slightly against him, his chest heaving with his breath. Harry kissed him once more and felt Draco's whole body shudder against his before letting go of him to grab his bag, pulling it open and dragging out his Invisibility cloak.

"Put this on," he said to Draco, who took it, looking astounded. "And hold on to me."

Draco grabbed Harry's elbow, looking at him somewhat desperately. "Potter, I didn't mean to hurt-"

"I know," Harry said and he saw the dizzying relief in Draco's expression as he collected his clothes and haphazardly pulled them on, shoving his glasses onto his face. When he was decent and all his stuff along with Draco's shirt was collected in his bag, he pulled the cloak up over Draco, hiding him from view. He felt an invisible hand take hold of his wrist and gently covered it with his other hand, wishing his could kiss Draco again just one more time before he led him out of the room.

* * *

All sense and rationality had just upped and left the world. Well had just left Draco's world anyway. He had just for stupid moral reasons avoided an incredibly selfish course of action and been almost completely honest with himself about his feelings. And instead of being mocked, scorned, emasculated or any of those other terrible things his Father had warned would happen if he acted as such, he had ended up with a declaration of mutual affection and a mouthful of Potter's tongue.

_Not bad…_ he thought dazedly as he allowed Potter to haul him along the moonlit corridors, his face set with determination. If Draco was completely honest, the expression on Potters face was turning him on quite a lot. It was the same face that Potter was wearing in Draco's fantasises, when Potter held him down and did dirty things to him.

He wrenched his thoughts away from his 'being tied to the bed by Harry Potter' fantasies and gave some thought to what was going on right at that moment. He tried to get his bearings and figure out where they were going and it took him a good few moments for realisation to sink in; they were headed to Gryffindor Tower.

Alarm shot through Draco but he didn't let go of Potter's wrist, trusting in Potter and the fact he was invisible to get him through this experience. Although the prospect of possibly being in Potter's bed and under his control did a substantial amount to both ease his worry and heighten his arousal.

"Solvo Mos."

He jumped slightly as Harry called out, and then realised he wasn't just shouting random words but offering the password that would admit them to Gryffindor tower. He looked up to see that they were beside the portrait of the Fat Lady who was blinking sleepily at Harry, looking resigned.

"Are you ever going to let me have a full nights sleep?" she yawned as Harry pushed Draco towards the portrait hole.

"Maybe," Harry replied. "I won't be out again tonight."

"But it's not even midnight!" she said, raising an eyebrow. Harry just grinned and then followed Draco through the portrait hole, Draco immediately grabbing hold of his arm again, standing close as he nervously looked around the Gryffindor common room.

"Harry!"

They barely made it two steps across the room before a figure was standing up and waving Harry over. Draco tightened his grip on Harry's arm as Seamus Finnegan looked straight towards them and he was seized by paranoia that even though he was invisible, somehow someone would see him and then he would be murdered by angry Gryffindors and then he'd never get to have sex with Potter and his stupid moral epiphany would have been a complete waste of time.

"Ron and Hermione are looking for you! They just left again, said they were going to look by the lake," Seamus said to Harry, looking concerned. "They looked pretty worried-"

"OK, that's great," Harry said promptly, walking across the room and hauling Draco with him, ignoring the baffled look on the Irishman's face.

"Go. All the way up," Harry muttered, letting go of Draco's hand and pushing him forwards up onto the staircase.

Draco hastened to obey, taking the stairs three at a time and bursting through the door and belatedly realising that that would look odd to anyone in the room as he was still invisible. Luckily, the room was empty and the moment Harry was also inside and the door shut behind them, Draco wrenched the cloak off of his head, breathing heavily.

He barely had time to look around and take in his surroundings because Harry had grabbed him and was kissing him, one hand on the back of his neck and the other on his waist. Draco moaned into Harry's mouth and kissed him back, dizzy in the face of Harry's assault. _This _was what he dreamed of, what Draco had always wanted. And it was getting better by the second; Harry was pushing him bodily backwards and then the backs of his legs hit a bed and they were both toppling onto the mattress, Harry on top of Draco.

"Is this more what you had in mind?" Harry whispered, his nose brushing against Draco's.

Draco nodded breathlessly and reached up to pull Harrys glasses away from his face so he could see those eyes without obstruction. Harry let him toss them to the side before he leant down to capture Draco's lips in another demanding kiss, one hand slipping down his still bare torso. As much as Draco had enjoyed his time being in control of Harry, this was _so_ much better. Blaise had once had the audacity to tell Draco he was obviously a 'bottom' and at the time Draco had been outraged and thrown a book at him. In retrospect Draco had to concede Blaise may have been closer to the truth than Draco was originally willing to admit; Draco couldn't deny that he had been seriously turned on by being dragged to Gryffindor Tower and the way Harry laid atop him, pinning him down to the bed.

All too soon Harry pulled away but Draco forgave him as he found himself being pleasurably manhandled so he was in the centre of the bed, and then Harry was turning away to draw the curtains shut, enclosing them away from the rest of the room before pulling off and discarding his shirt for the second time that night.

He propped himself up on his elbows, feeling unaccountably nervous as Harry crawled up to him, straddling over his body and pressing kisses along the side of his neck. Arching his body up into Harry's, he tipped his head back so Harry could kiss along his throat. Harry's fingers were fumbling with the button on Draco's trousers and he could hardly dare believe what was happening as Harry yanked his trousers and boxers down and off. He quickly stopped questioning it; instead revelling in the feeling of skin on skin, wanting to cry because the sensations were just too good.

He gasped as Harry sat back and pulled Draco with him by his wrists, dragging him onto his lap. Fuck, Harry was being rough and Draco was loving it, tilting his head back and grinding his erection hard against Harry's as Harry bit down on his collarbone with enough force to bruise. A hand slipped down his back to squeeze his arse and his pulse rate doubled at the touch.

"Do it," he breathed against Harry's mouth. "God, _do it_."

"Are you sure? I've never- I might hurt you," Harry replied softly.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Draco asked.

Harry nodded and Draco raised an eyebrow.

"I do," Harry assured him quietly. "After I sent you that note…I wanted to make sure I did know."

Draco was both suitably impressed that Harry had had the foresight to mentally prepare himself for this situation, and inwardly thrilled that Harry had been contemplating and wanting sex with Draco when he had sent the note.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked again softly, disturbing Draco's thoughts. "We can do this the other way around. I don't mind. In fact, it'd probably be better for you if you topped-"

Draco replied by slipping back off of Harry's lap so his arse was back on the mattress, spreading his legs either side of Harry's body. Harry's eyes widened as he stared down at Draco displaying himself so wantonly to his gaze and Draco had to hold back a smile at the thrill he was experiencing that he was the one responsible for reducing Harry to an incoherent lust-filled mess.

Harry scrambled away from Draco, his upper half disappearing through a gap in the curtains for a moment. Draco waited as he heard rummaging sounds, growing more aroused by the moment and doing his best to resist the urge to take himself in hand and finish himself off right there. He trailed his shaking fingertips over his abdomen and breathed in sharply; it was if his whole body was hyper aware of every touch and sensation and the need to feel Harry touching him was driving him crazy.

Turning back towards Draco with a small tube of lubricant in hand, Harrys gaze raked up and down the Slytherins body before slowly reaching down to unbutton his own trousers. Draco watched hungrily as Harry undressed, not moving to help but instead lying back and taking the opportunity to look. When Harry was as naked as Draco, he crawled back up the bed and leant over him to gently kiss down his chest and stomach. Draco's eyelids fluttered shut as Harry continued his ministrations, and he tried to follow Harry's actions by touch alone.

He felt a hand sliding up his thigh and one across his opposite hip, felt Harry's hot breath ghosting over his abdomen where his trembling fingers still rested. He heard a soft pop as Harry uncapped the tube and nearly moaned aloud as he imagined what Harry was doing, what Harry was about to do. He didn't have to imagine for long because slick fingers were trailing up the inside of his thigh and Harry was pressing wet open mouthed kisses to his skin and he was just so warm.

A finger gently slid in-between his cheeks and he gasped, surprised. He had expected to have to encourage and guide Harry a little but apparently there was no need; Harry obviously knew what he was doing and he wasn't holding back.

Draco was flooded with gratitude; he didn't think his insecurities could have handled a hesitant and apprehensive Harry at this point in time; he needed Harry to be confident and needed to be able to tell that Harry wanted this as much as he did.

A moan slipped out of both of them as Harry gently pushed a finger inside of Draco, still pressing kisses to his stomach as he eased it back and forth. No doubt encouraged by Draco's reactions, one finger soon became two, both gliding steadily in and out, stretching and readying Draco for Harry's cock.

Draco was pleasantly surprised to feel very little pain, just the usual strange fullness and slight burn which soon faded, replaced with more fantastic sensations as Harry's careful fingers reached deeper. It had been a long time since he had done this with anyone but Harry didn't rush and they were both relaxed- well, as relaxed they could be when they were both dying to fuck each other senseless.

Delight shuddered through Draco's body as Harry moved on top of him, pulling Draco's legs up around his waist, breathing heavily. Draco couldn't help himself; he reached up and ran his hand down the side of Harry's face, just wanting to capture and forever remember the sight of Harry above him, panting and sweating. Harry smiled in response, a short happy laugh leaving his lips before he turned his head to kiss Draco's palm.

Things didn't stay gentle for long; Harry fully lowered his body down onto Draco's, holding one of his thighs in a tight grip that would probably leave fingerprint shaped bruises on Draco's pale skin. He couldn't spare a thought for that though, because Harry was using his other hand to guide himself into Draco's eager body. Panting heavily, Draco rolled his hips and his whole body convulsed as they came together, Harry sinking into Draco's tight heat with a grateful moan.

Draco was having trouble breathing as Harry pulled back and slammed home again; the sensations were overwhelming. For the first time in his life, Draco felt like he could just let go, and so he did. It was terrifying but exhilarating at the same time, to let go of all his tension and trust that Harry would take care of his every need.

And he did. Oh god, he did. He thrust hard into Draco over and over without pause or mercy; repeatedly hitting that spot inside him that made Draco cry out and arch his back, his sweat slicked chest pressing hard against Harry's. Harry didn't think twice; his hands wandered selfishly over Draco's skin, his lips marked him without concern.

They lost track of time as they thrust together, the only sound in the room their harsh gasps and broken cries. Draco's whole body was quivering as Harry's hands found his and he laced their fingers together, holding on tightly as their lips met again and they kissed shakily. He was close, so close and knew Harry was as well by the way his breath hitched in his chest every time he thrust forwards again, and their mouths met once more, muffling their hoarse cries as they finally came together, collapsing together in waves of pleasure and both knowing there was no other place in the world they would rather be.

* * *

Harry didn't want to move, or even speak. He wanted to stay where he was forever, laid on his back with Draco draped over him, tracing gentle patterns across Draco's shoulder with his fingertips and feeling the steady thump of his heartbeat against his own.

Sooner or later though, one of them was going to have to break the comfortable silence and they would have to talk about what happened. They couldn't ignore it if they had any hope of things between them really working out. He took hold of Draco's hand that was resting on his chest and raised it to his lips. "Are we going to try and work out what happened here?" He asked softly against Draco's skin before kissing the back of Draco's hand.

"Honestly, I don't think we could if we tried," Draco said flatly and Harry chuckled. They lapsed back into silence for a moment, Draco shifting contentedly against Harry and kissing his collarbone. "Let's just leave it as we both wanted each other, but we were too idiotic to actually admit it."

"I was not idiotic," Harry protested. "I was trying to figure out what you were doing!"

"You?" Draco asked incredulously, raising his head to look Harry in the eye. "How do you think it was for me? I knew you were faking, and then when I thought about telling you, you kicked me!"

"You hexed me," Harry retorted and then after a beat they both grinned at each other, Draco rolling his eyes before he lowered his head back down into the crook of Harry's neck.

"See? Not worth the trouble," he said and smiled as Harry moved, gently rolling him over onto his back and leaning over him, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips.

"Did you mean it?" Draco asked, looking away from Harry's bright green gaze. "That stuff you said before we came here."

Harry nodded. "Yes." He paused, then tilted Draco's chin up in a silent request for him to meet his eyes. Draco did, feeling flushed.

"What about you?" Harry asked, looking at him intently.

"I-"

CRASH

They both jumped a mile and nearly butted heads as the dormitory door crashed open and two sets of footsteps ran into the room, followed swiftly by a panicking voice.

"Harry! Are you in here?"

Harry dropped his head down onto Draco's shoulder, groaning softly before calling out. "Yes, Ron, I'm here."

"We've been bloody looking for you for ages! Where the hell have you been?" Ron asked and Harry sighed, gently kissing Draco before retrieving his trousers from the bottom of the bed, pulling them on and delving around for his glasses. Draco retrieved them from where they had ended up shoved under the pillow and knelt up behind Harry, wrapping his arms around his neck and pressing silent kisses along his neck.

"Hang on, I'm coming," Harry called, grabbing his glasses out of Draco's hand and wrestling himself out of the Slytherin's grip with an exasperated glance in his direction. He slipped out of the bed, making sure to leave the hangings in place, to see Ron and Hermione stood in front of him looking frantic.

"Harry, Malfoy knows about the curse!" Hermione said without preamble.

"What?" Harry asked, thrown and distracted. He resisted the urge to glance back towards his bed, praying that Draco would have the sense to keep his mouth shut and stay hidden.

"He knows you can throw it off," Ron said. "He's been lying about it and we've been trying to find you to tell you before you went to find him because he doesn't know that you know that he knows-"

"Actually, he already knows, Weasley," a bored sounding voice came clearly from behind Harry's curtains. "Calm down before you do yourself an injury."

Ron and Hermione's jaws simultaneously dropped and they gaped at Harry who smiled sheepishly at them, blushing furiously and making a mental note to slap Draco later on.

"Er, yeah. He told me," Harry said with a shrug, scratching the back of his head.

"What?" Ron asked stupidly.

"I told him." Draco smartly pulled the curtains of the bed open and stepped out beside Harry, who was thankful that Draco had deigned to put his trousers back on. Which admittedly didn't do much to cover the painfully obvious bite marks and love bites that Harry had left scattered across his chest. Ron and Hermione went back to gaping unashamedly.

"_You_ told him," Hermione said faintly, staring at Draco like he was a ghost.

"Yes," Draco said with a superior nod. "I realised that my actions had so far been selfish and unethical so had a moral revolution and told him _before_ we had sex."

Harry didn't know whether to laugh or cry as Hermione blushed pink and Ron spluttered at Draco's words. To Harry, the fact Draco was actually telling the truth made the situation that little bit more hysterical.

"You…" Hermione trailed off, putting a hand on her forehead, struggling to comprehend the notion that Draco Malfoy had suddenly acquired morals and had done the right thing, and for _Harry's_ sake no less.

Ron was glancing back and forth between Harry and Draco, frowning. "So you know he was faking?" he asked Draco suddenly.

"Yes," Draco replied promptly.

"And you know he was lying?" Ron asked Harry who nodded.

Ron's frown deepened. "And you're both cool with that?"

Harry and Draco glanced at one another and then shrugged, giving each other faint smiles.

"Do you two even realise-" Hermione began but then stopped, holding her hands up in the air. "You know what? I'm not even going to start on what I think about this situation."

Exasperated and wanting nothing to do with the apparent madness, she turned on her heel to leave. She got as far as the door before pausing and then turning around, running back at Harry and throwing her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "I'm glad you're happy," she whispered thickly into his ear and Harry carefully and a little nervously hugged her back. "Just...make sure you are." She let go of him and gave him a watery smile before she actually left, her footsteps fading as she descended the staircase.

"So…" Ron's awkward voice came and Harry turned back to his best friend who was stood in front of him, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot and avoiding eye contact with Draco, who still didn't seem the least bit bothered that he was half naked in the Gryffindor dorm in the presence of a Weasley. "You two eh?" Ron swallowed thickly. "Who would have guessed it?"

Draco slipped an arm around Harry's waist and stepped close to him, pressing a kiss to his bare shoulder. Ron's face went as red as his hair and he looked determinedly up at the ceiling.

Harry shot Draco yet another somewhat exasperated look and swatted impatiently at him with his free hand. "You can go," he said to Ron in amusement. "I'll talk to you later."

Ron shot him a grateful look and then scarpered, running after Hermione and not looking back.

"Was that really necessary?" Harry asked Draco who grinned, stepping back and folding his arms, looking thoroughly pleased with himself.

"Oh yeah," he said. "Did you see the look on his face?"

Harry pulled a face at him but Draco saw a smile threaten at the corners of his mouth. Draco had to fight down his own smug smile; Potter was trying to hold back a smile and _he_ had caused that. He really could get used to that happening.

His musings were interrupted by Harry's thoughtful voice. "How long before the whole school knows do you think?" he asked, a frown on his forehead.

It was Draco's turn to frown. "Do you not want anyone to know?" he asked, feeling slightly worried and if he were honest, a little petulant. He did understand why Harry would possibly want to keep this hidden for so many reasons, all of the same reasons to do with rivalry and the war that had stopped Draco from approaching him before. But understanding it didn't mean he had to _like _it.

Harry shrugged. "I don't mind either way. But if this does get out, it's going to be difficult."

"I know," Draco said, tightening his arms across his chest and looking somewhat nervously at Harry, trying his hardest not to revert to habit and scowl. "This could go wrong," he said suddenly, the words tumbling from his mouth before he could get them under control. "We barely know each other properly, and there's all our history- I mean, what if we only know how to fight-"

"Then I guess...we get to have lots and lots of make up sex," Harry said seriously and Draco shot him a weak smile. "I'm willing to try, and see where this ends up if you are. I think if we get past the fighting, and take it slowly-"

"Take it _slowly?_" Draco raised an eyebrow. "That would make perfect sense if you'd not just shoved your cock up my arse before we've even managed to have a proper conversation."

Harry shot him a withering look and then sighed, running his fingers through his hair and making it messier than it already was. "Look," he said bluntly. "You still annoy the hell out of me sometimes. And we're going to have to set some serious rules concerning curses you're allowed to use in my presence...but I get this feeling that we could understand each other, and kind of give each other what we need. What we want. I'm willing to give it a shot if you are."

Draco watched him carefully, knowing this was crunch time. He could either walk away from the potential trouble and difficulty right now and try and be satisfied with the memory of one night of fantastic sex...or he could try and trust Harry and put in some serious hard work to see if there was anything between them. A glimmer of hope had settled in his chest at Harry's blunt admission of wanting things to work between them, and Draco felt he owed it to both of them not to ignore it.

Shutting his eyes and pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose, he spoke wearily. "You realise that no-one would ever believe us anyway if we told the truth about all this that has happened."

Harry chuckled quietly. "Well we can't tell anyone the truth anyway, or you'll get shipped straight to Azkaban."

Draco cringed and Harry reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. A simple gesture of reassurance but Draco was thankful for it all the same. "I won't tell anyone," he said firmly. "We'll leave that part out. And if it does get out, I'll just deny it."

"You'd do that for me?" Draco asked and Harry nodded.

"I think this might just work you know," Draco said suddenly and Harry looked at him questioningly, his hand still resting on Draco's shoulder. "Well, you survived Avada Kedavra twice, made it through the Triwizard tournament, got through the Department of Mysteries and defeated the Dark Lord with a disarming spell…I think falling in love with another guy because of a misplaced Unforgivable fits in perfectly with the rest of your ridiculous life."

Harry gave a short laugh, squeezing Draco's shoulder, making Draco smile back at him. "So I'm in love with you now?" he asked teasingly.

"Well, you did pretend to be cursed to get with me," Draco said airily.

"You cursed me to get with me," Harry reminded him, pulling Draco closer so their bodies were touching, leaning in to gently kiss Draco's neck, making the blonde shiver.

"Well then we're both as bad as each other," he murmured, his eyes fluttering shut.

"I'm OK with that if you are," Harry said quietly and Draco heard the subtle undertones of the question. Harry was ready for this; he just needed to know Draco was too and so far Draco had done pretty well with sidestepping the issue of actually talking about his own feelings out loud. For a fleeting moment he wondered if he would physically be able to do it or if he'd just end up gaping uselessly like a goldfish or Weasley.

He took a deep breath and looked down at the floor. Fuck off was he going to look Harry in the eye as he did this. The words themselves were tricky enough before even _considering_ eye-contact. He knew that by the rules of love and romance he was meant to look into Harry's eyes and admit he loved him and then kiss him and fall into his arms and swoon, or something equally as ridiculous. But he and Potter hadn't been playing by the rules so far, so there was really no point in trying to start now.

"I want this," he suddenly said, praying that whatever benevolent deity that was on his shoulder today would continue to reward him for being honest. "I like you. You make me laugh. Well, when we're not fighting. And you're brave and you saved my life and you're scruffy and daft and understand things that other people don't, and I think I can be good for you."

A slow smile quirked Harry's lips and he leant down to kiss Draco again, who felt a thrill of triumph run through his veins; that was now _twice_ he had been honest in one evening and it had paid off both times-

As Draco held Harry tight, kissing him back fiercely with no intention of letting him go anywhere but back into that bed, Draco could only think one thing: even though he owed a lot to the Imperius curse for him somehow ending up in this position, there was really no competition. Free will was fucking _brilliant._

* * *

FIN.

* * *

Hands up who would have let Draco curse them?

Ha ha, Thank you to EVERYONE who has taken the time to read Imperio, and double thanks to everyone who reviewed :) This fic has seriously cost me more brain cells to write than all my other fics put together, and I hope no-one got overly confused!

Special thanks to the people who have consistently reviewed all my pieces, you guys keep me smiling. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! And super thanks go to Xana Belle who has been a fantastic beta and helped me through my feet stamping 'I don't want to write no more!' tantrums.

You guys are all brilliant, keep bugging me to write more and I shall!

Holmes.


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